Unbeaten three-year-old looks Group 1 standard, top juvenile's form boosted and a beaten handicapper who it can pay to follow

Amiloc has the right attributes to compete at top level

Subsequent Group 1 winners King Of Steel, Continuous, Alenquer, Pyledriver and Japan have contested recent runnings of the King Edward VII Stakes, and this year’s winner Amiloc could become the latest to mix it at the top level.

The Ralph Beckett-trained gelding has a perfect 5-5 record and held main market rival Zahrann by three-quarters of a length in the Group 2 over a mile and a half.

Racing Post Ratings suggest Amiloc ran to only a 2lb higher figure at Royal Ascot compared with his four-length Listed success at Goodwood the previous month.

The Aykroyds’ homebred son of Postponed won in spite of the quick ground, though, with connections feeling conditions were faster than ideal for him. His first four wins had come on standard to slow on the all-weather and good ground.

Amiloc has plenty of long-range entries and Beckett “wouldn't be afraid to take anyone on with him on slower ground”.

Those options include the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes over the course and distance he has just won over on July 26, a race in which King Of Steel finished third after his King Edward VII success in 2023.
Jack Haynes

Reasons to believe Asfoora can improve on sprint showing

Asfoora may have failed to defend her King Charles III Stakes crown but there are reasons to believe she retains enough ability to be a force in the top sprints this summer.

Her trainer Henry Dwyer admitted in the lead-up to her repeat bid that her preparation had not been ideal – she had to fly over to Britain later than hoped and had two fewer runs going into the royal meeting compared with last year.

The Aussie mare, who sported first-time blinkers, travelled one of the best into the race from stall ten and looked a big player with a furlong and a half to run under Oisin Murphy.

Asfoora (near): was just denied by Big Mojo at Glorious Goodwood last yearCredit: Edward Whitaker

Her effort petered out a bit late on, having made a move into contention slightly away from the eventual first four, who were drawn in stalls 14-17, but she was beaten only two lengths in a dead-heat fifth.

Dwyer felt going into the race that she would improve as the season went on, and it would be no surprise to see her go very close in the King George Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, a race in which she was beaten a short head by Big Evs last year.
Jack Haynes

Albert Einstein reputation enhanced

We saw some smart juvenile performances at Royal Ascot, but there’s a good chance this season’s best two-year-old was not at the meeting.

Albert Einstein has been something of a talking horse this year and was two from two before a setback ruled him out of the Coventry Stakes.

The son of Wootton Bassett followed up a Naas maiden win when justifying prohibitive odds in the Marble Hill Stakes at the Curragh last month, when he looked value for further than the three-quarter-length winning margin, having been forced to wait for a run under Ryan Moore.

The Marble Hill form was boosted at the royal meeting when the second- and third-placed horses – Power Blue and Andab – finished fifth and fourth respectively in Tuesday’s Coventry Stakes.

Albert Einstein (left): had the Coventry fifth and fourth directly behind him when winning last month's Marble Hill StakesCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Aidan O’Brien won the Coventry with Gstaad, but his post-race comments focused on Albert Einstein, who he said “has always been something else” and was “the most different horse we've ever seen”.

O’Brien has a strong team of two-year-olds this year, having won three of the six juvenile races at the royal meeting, and his effusive comments on Albert Einstein suggest he could be something special.
Joe Eccles

Britannia runner-up looks Group class

Harry Eustace enjoyed an unforgettable Royal Ascot, bagging a Group 1 double with Docklands in Tuesday’s Queen Anne Stakes and Time For Sandals in Friday’s Commonwealth Cup.

Docklands was landing his second win at the royal meeting, having landed the Britannia Stakes in 2023, and Eustace went agonisingly close in this year’s running of the mile handicap with La Botte, who rates a future Group performer.

The son of Too Darn Hot was held up in the rear of his near-side group under Jamie Spencer and still had plenty of rivals ahead of him two furlongs out, but finished with a flourish to be beaten just a neck by Arabian Story.

La Botte (near): finishes strongly for second in the BritanniaCredit: Edward Whitaker

La Botte finished fourth behind subsequent Irish 2,000 Guineas runner-up Cosmic Year in a Listed race at Newmarket on his start before Ascot and has posted progressive Racing Post Ratings in all four career starts, with the figure of 106 achieved for his Britannia near-miss only 2lb below the 108 that Docklands recorded in the race in 2023.

La Botte looks destined to follow his stablemate into Group company and rates as one to follow throughout the remainder of the season.
Joe Eccles

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