Mullins never a trainer to underestimate as new stallions aim for rapid start at Royal Ascot

Willie Mullins is already royalty in the eyes of many punters and plenty of his subjects will be supporting Reaching High in Tuesday's Ascot Stakes.

It is thought Reaching High become the first horse owned by a reigning British monarch to be trained in Ireland when appearing at Leopardstown last month for the King and Queen.

He's quite a notable one, too, as he is a Sea The Stars son of Estimate, the most significant of the late Queen Elizabeth's horses in recent times, and there is no more obvious a trainer of a potential dual-purpose horse than Mullins, who does have one formal tie as his wife Jackie was born in England.

Estimate is a daughter of Monsun and claimed the 2013 Gold Cup by a neck from the Mullins-trained Simenon. A half-sister to the 1999 Gold Cup winner Enzeli, she was a gift by her breeder, the Aga Khan.

It would not be treasonous to say that Estimate has not been much of a broodmare so far, given she has visited most of Europe's pre-eminent stallions including Dubawi, Siyouni and Frankel, but has thrown only minor winners. Reaching High, by Sea The Stars, is her sixth foal and has won just once, at Wolverhampton, for all that he looks a likely improver for his expert trainer. He was broadly progressive for the retired Sir Michael Stoute and would be becoming by some way the best of the brood, for all that there are other blue-blooded siblings in the pipeline.

More Galileo success?

Galileo is the most successful sire with any representation at Royal Ascot and it's not even close, either. Since 2005, the year that the titan first began fielding runners, he has struck no fewer than 38 times. That includes three times last year, highlighted by his mighty stayer Kyprios, which made Galileo the top sire of that meeting

Another of that class of 2024 was Illinois, who landed the Queen's Vase prior to finishing a narrow second behind another Galileo, Jan Brueghel, in the St Leger. He looks to be Galileo's best chance of the week, four years after his death, in assuming the mantle of the recently retired Kyprios in the Gold Cup. In terms of numbers Galileo is also by some way the strongest in the Ascot Stakes.

Mr Hampstead, a brother of Irish Oaks winner Savethelastdance, is joined by Dawn Rising, a former winner of the Queen Alexandra and older brother of recent Coronation Cup star Jan Brueghel, and Artistic Star and Saturn, the first foal out of brilliant Coronation Stakes heroine Alpha Centauri. All of those could have feasible each-way squeaks.

Dubawi, on 24 wins so far, is second best and has been more of a friend to punters going in for a £1 stake on each of his runners (+£49.78). Dubawi goes in heavy in the first race of the meeting with his Group 1 winners Notable Speech and Lead Artist right in the thick of a competitive renewal of the Queen Anne.

Frankel (16) will surely reach such lofty numbers in time and stacks up well at this stage of his career. His Candelari is a fascinating Gold Cup runner and, while he's a bit light on opening-day action, he has Military Order back down to quite a realistic level in the Wolferton Stakes.

Outside chance for freshmen

A winner this week puts a major marker down for a first-season sire with the whole of the racing world watching. The Coventry Stakes (3.05) is the most prestigious of the juvenile races for colts, so a bit more likely to go to an established stallion than the likes of the Norfolk or the current iteration of the Windsor Castle but three new sires have managed to field runners in it.

Power Blue (right) represents first-season sire StarmanCredit: Patrick McCann

Tally-Ho's Starman has taken the lead in the standings and is one of two of his kind to have got a black-type winner on the board. He has Bone Marra, the remarkable debut winner at Wolverhampton, while Darley's Space Blues has prospects with the Marble Hill runner-up Power Blue along with outsiders Bourbon Blues and Do Or Do Not.

Mickley resident Ubettabelieveit is ticking along nicely so far and Tricky Tel, unbeaten in two starts, is another interesting one lurking at a big price.

Prince and pauper

Coventry Stakes (3.05)

Prince A son of Coolmore’s Golden Jubilee Stakes winner Starspangledbanner and a half-brother to champion juvenile Vandeek, Gstaad was picked up by MV Magnier for 450,000gns from Maywood Stud at the 2023 Tattersalls December Foal Sale. The bay showed he had inherited at least a slice of his Prix Morny and Middle Park-winning half-brother’s talent with a cosy debut win at Navan last month.

Pauper At the other end of the spending spectrum is Cotai Glory colt Kolkata Knight, a £16,000 purchase by Millennial Racing and Tom Dascombe at last year’s Goffs Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale. The juvenile went unsold at the 2023 Goffs November Sale as a foal but made an exciting winning debut at Hamilton in May, scorching home by five lengths.