Japan raiders and a Candy prodigy: some standouts from the Royal Ascot entries

Entries for 12 of Royal Ascot's biggest races were revealed on Tuesday with some of Flat racing's star names set to be in action. We look at some of the key talking points emerging from the entries

Japanese star leads rich array of international Royal Ascot contenders

International participation has helped lift Royal Ascot to the rarified level that it holds in the Flat racing calendar, so it is both encouraging and exciting to see the usual entries from Ireland, France and from American trainer Wesley Ward supplemented by horses trained in Japan, Australia and by other figures based in the US.

The most intriguing of the entries is Shahryar, the four-year-old Japanese runner who landed last year’s Tokyo Yushun and defeated Yibir and Pyledriver, among others, when landing the Dubai Sheema Classic on his most recent outing.