OK, the TC sucked. Stars come out for Royal Ascot opener....

[twogunsid]

From thoroughbredtimes.com: Opening day of the 300th Royal Ascot meet on Tuesday features an opening race worthy of a celebration.

Two-time European champion Goldikova (Ire) will try for her 14th career Group/Grade 1 victory as she faces such stars as multiple Group 1 winners Canford Cliffs and Cape Blanco in the meet’s opening race, the Queen Anne Stakes (Eng-G1), one of three Group 1 races on Tueday's card.

The three Group 1 races are all part of the QIPCO British Champions’ Series.

Goldikova, the two-time reigning champion older female in the U.S. and the 2010 European champion older female, opened her six-year-old campaign on May 22 with a second consecutive victory in the Prix d’Ispahan (Fr-G1) at Longchamp.

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2011/06/13/royal-ascot-opener-preview.aspx

View tomorrows card: http://www.racingpost.com/horses2/cards/meeting_of_cards.sd?crs_id=2&r_date=2011-06-14

[twogunsid]

1. A couple of good links for the meet....

http://www.anddownthestretchtheycome.com/2011/6/13/2187585/royal-ascot-2011-race-schedule

http://royal-ascot.racingpost.com/video/

http://www.youtube.com/user/AtTheRacesUK

[twogunsid]

2. Distance in fashion as Ascot meeting opens today

From thoroughbredtimes.com: On Thursday at Royal Ascot, they will run the Ascot Gold Cup (Eng-G1) for the 205th time.

The race has been the Royal meeting's centerpiece since its first official running in 1807. At a distance of 2 1/2 miles, it shares with the Prix du Cadran (Fr-G1) at Longchamp the distinction of being the world’s longest stakes race on the flat.

In England, the Gold Cup is the most important in the series of staying races known as "cup races," which include the Yorkshire Cup (Eng-G2) at 1 3/4 miles, the Goodwood Cup (Eng-G2) at two miles, and the Doncaster Cup (Eng-G2) at 2 1/4 miles.

This pattern of races helps to insure that the British breeding industry will continue to supply the British racing industry with a steady stream of stayers. Abolish the marathons or reduce their distances like we did in America with the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), which was cut from two miles to 1 1/2 miles in 1976 and further reduced to 1 1/4 miles in 1990, and the breeding industry of any nation soon will find itself producing little more than sprinters and milers.

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2011/06/13/international-spotlight.aspx

[jakefrep]

3. I'm more interested in Frankel's performance...

...in the St. James's Palace (G1) tomorrow.

But my favorite aspect of Royal Ascot are the non-graded handicaps with fields of 25-30 horses. The purses for those are more luractive than some graded stakes.

[twogunsid]

4. Cecil says he has a new strategy for the race...

I can't wait to see the races tomorrow. I wish Black Caviar was making the trip to Ascot this year.

[twogunsid]

5. Summit Digs Into Salix Use, Regulation

From Bloodhorse.com: Anyone hoping to learn the intricacies of Salix use, research, and regulation at the June 13 International Summit on Race Day Medication, EIPH and the Racehorse held at Belmont Park didn’t walk away disappointed.

Three Thoroughbred industry organizations put the summit together in response to federal bills filed the week of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico and U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky calling for a ban on all performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing and proposing a three-strikes-and-you’re-out-penalty system. Those organizations were the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium.

More than 100 people representing nine countries on six continents attended the conference.

Alex Waldrop, president and chief executive officer of the NTRA, said at the beginning of the summit anyone hoping to hear a debate might be disappointed.

Read more: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/63559/summit-digs-into-salix-use-regulation#ixzz1PDmOKLzH

[twogunsid]

8. Study: EIPH is an Inherited Trait

From bloodhorse.com: Concerns about Salix’s performance-enhancing attributes may pale in comparison to the potential detrimental effects the drug’s widespread use in North America may have on the genetic health of the Thoroughbred.

The heritability of exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhaging, commonly known as bleeding, came to light during a veterinarian panel discussion as part of the public session of the two-day International Summit on Race Day Medication, EIPH and the Racehorse at Belmont Park.

South African-based international veterinarian John McVeigh said the genetic connection of EIPH was made in a study done by Hans Weideman, S.J. Schoeman, and G.F. Jordaan and published in the South African Journal of Animal Science in 2004. The study is called “A genetic analysis of epistaxis as associated with EIPH in the Southern African Thoroughbred.”

“The relationship between runners with EIPH and the stallion has a heritability of 0.4, which is very high,” McVeigh said during the panel discussion. “The two sires that produced the most bleeder progeny were both champion sires.”

Read more: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/63571/study-eiph-is-an-inherited-trait#ixzz1PI1WJxDi

[twogunsid]

6. Ascot: Canford Cliffs wears down Goldikova in Queen Anne

From NTRA.com: Canford Cliffs won his fifth consecutive Group 1 race, and beat three-time Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Goldikova, in Tuesday’s Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, the opening race of the prestigious five-day meeting.

Canford Cliffs finished a length in front of Goldikova, with Cityscape third in the field of seven. Ridden by Richard Hughes for trainer Richard Hannon, Canford Cliffs was fifth or sixth early, stalking pacesetter Flash Dance, a stablemate of Goldikova, who was third for the first half of the one-mile race run on a straightaway.

Sent off as the 11-8 second choice, Canford Cliffs moved closer to the front with two furlongs remaining and was alongside Goldikova with a furlong remaining. Canford Cliffs took the lead with a sixteenth of a mile remaining and slowly pulled clear to edge Goldikova, the 5-4 favorite ridden by Olivier Peslier.

A 4-year-old Irish-bred colt by Tagula, Canford Cliffs has won 7 of 10 starts. His current five-race winning streak includes three races in 2010 – the Irish 1,000 Guineas, St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Sussex Stakes – and one race earlier this year, the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on May 14.

http://www.ntra.com/content/display/news/NDgyNzc=

Video of the Queen Anne Stakes: http://www.youtube.com/user/AtTheRacesUK#p/u/2/LVd3qQvghlI

[twogunsid]

7. Ascot: Frankel stays unbeaten

Frankel kept his unbeaten tag by holding on to win the St James's Palace Stakes by three quarters of a length from the fast-closing Zoffany, with German Guineas winner Excelebration third.

Video of the St. James Palace: http://www.youtube.com/user/AtTheRacesUK#p/u/0/FwKNwdkhH7Q

Video of Prohibit winning the King's Stand Stakes: http://www.youtube.com/user/AtTheRacesUK#p/u/1/V8EiGwu-n9I

[twogunsid]

9. Ascot today....

Prince of Wales Stakes - http://www.youtube.com/user/AtTheRacesUK#p/u/1/LTXNBOyA2rM

Royal Hunt Club Cup - http://www.youtube.com/user/AtTheRacesUK#p/u/0/myN9FKC0Jj4

[twogunsid]

10. Document Looks at Racing, Training Surfaces

From bloodhorse.com: The Racing Surfaces Committee formed at the inaugural Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit in 2006 has published a 34-page “Racing Surfaces White Paper” that details the current state of knowledge pertaining to training and racing surfaces.

The document, drafted as a collection of published scientific papers and data, was co-authored by Dr. Mick Peterson (University of Maine), Dr. C. Wayne McIlwraith (Colorado State University), Dr. Lars Roepstorff (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), Dr. Jeffrey J. Thomason (University of Guelph), and Christie Mahaffey (University of Maine), the Grayson/Jockey Club Research Foundation announced in a June 15 release.

The document was distributed to participants at the Track Superintendents’ Field Day Conference June 14-16 at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania.

Read more: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/63582/document-looks-at-racing-training-surfaces#ixzz1PNsb5bI4

Download the document at: http://grayson-jockeyclub.org/resources/White_Paper_final.pdf

[twogunsid]

11. Fame And Glory Cruises to Gold Cup Victory

From Bloodhorse.com: Fame And Glory took command with two furlongs left to run and rolled to an impressive three-length victory in the $407,388 Gold Cup (Eng-I) at Royal Ascot June 16. The 2 1/2-mile Gold Cup is the signature event of Royal Ascot, and it is the highlight of Ladies’ Day at the track.

The victory by the son of Montjeu brought the Gold Cup back home to the Ballydoyle yard, which had captured the Cup four straight years with the mighty Yeats from 2006-2009.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Fame And Glory was sent off as the 11-8 favorite. The 5-year-old horse entered the race off of two straight listed wins in Ireland. As a 4-year-old, Fame And Glory won four of six starts which included victories in the Tattersalls Gold Cup (Ire-I) and the Investec Coronation Cup (Eng-I).

Over the winter, Dr. and Mrs. Jim (Fitri) Hay bought into the team that owns Fame And Glory; the horse now runs for the partnership of Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Fitri Hay.

Read more: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/63606/fame-and-glory-cruises-to-gold-cup-victory#ixzz1PTOwZlBH

Video of the Gold Cup: http://www.youtube.com/user/AtTheRacesUK#p/u/0/SdIOA_6fWOo

[twogunsid]

12. Bobby Flay's More Than Real returns in Coronation at Ascot

From thoroughbredtimes.com: Bobby Flay’s More Than Real will attempt to follow her Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G2) victory with another international spectacle in the Coronation Stakes (Eng-G1) on Friday at Royal Ascot.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, the More Than Ready filly will be making her three-year-old debut in the one-mile race at one of Europe’s most prestigious meetings. She won her career debut at Saratoga Race Course before finishing second in the Natalma Stakes (Can-G3) and winning the Breeders’ Cup. Pletcher named Olivier Peslier to ride.

Her top competition could come from 7-to-2 morning-line favorite Together (Ire), the Galileo (Ire) filly she vanquished in the Breeders’ Cup. Together has returned at three to post consecutive second-place finishes in the QIPCO One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) and Etihad Airways Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) heading into the Coronation.

Another Kentucky-bred in the field is Group 3 winner Theyskens’ Theory, a Bernardini filly who finished sixth in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and returned at three to win the listed Sportingbet.com Fillies’ Stakes on May 13 at York.

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2011/06/16/coronation-preview.aspx

Entries - http://www.racingpost.com/horses2/cards/card.sd?race_id=528251&r_date=2011-06-17

[twogunsid]

13. Immortal Verse wins the Coronation Stakes at Ascot.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AtTheRacesUK#p/u/0/5Wvqu5Hzl4Q

[twogunsid]

14. Closing day. Delegator needs suitable ground in Golden Jubilee.

From thoroughbredtimes.com: Godolphin Racing will bid for a second top-level victory during the Royal Ascot meeting when trainer Saeed bin Suroor sends out multiple group winner Delegator in the Golden Jubilee Stakes (Eng-G1) on closing day on Saturday.

The five-year-old by Dansili (GB) won going six furlongs for the first time in the Duke of York Blue Square Stakes (Eng-G1) in his season debut, besting multiple Group 1 winner Regal Parade by half-length on turf rated as good.

“He proved that he liked racing over six furlongs when he won at York and he has been working very well,” Suroor said of Delegator, who previously has raced creditably at beyond the Golden Jubilee distance, finishing second to Sea The Stars in the 2009 Stanjames One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) and to Mastercraftsman in the St. James’s Palace Stakes (Eng-G1), both at one mile.

"He is ready to go and I am looking forward to seeing him run another excellent race, providing the ground is suitable."

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2011/06/17/golden-jubilee-preview.aspx

Entries: http://www.racingpost.com/horses2/cards/card.sd?race_id=528252&r_date=2011-06-18

[twogunsid]

15. 'Society' Rocks Golden Jubilee Field at 25-1

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/63634/society-rocks-golden-jubilee-field-at-25-1?source=rss

Video of the Golden Jubilee - http://www.youtube.com/user/AtTheRacesUK#p/u/1/RWlQxsyOVQg

Video of Workingham Stakes - http://www.youtube.com/user/AtTheRacesUK#p/u/0/-CBxdKatpFw