Beautiful out to banish Aidan O'Brien's bogey in Queen Mary Stakes

1.15 AscotQueen Mary Stakes (Group 2) | 5f | 2yo fillies | ITV/SKY

There are only three current Group races at Royal Ascot that Aidan O'Brien has never won. All make sense. His quicker fillies rarely stay in training beyond three, making the Duke Of Cambridge difficult. He does not have many pure sprinters, hence the King's Stand. For similar sorts of reasons, the Queen Mary eludes him.

Efforts have been upped since the Coolmore partners won the race with the Wesley Ward-trained Acapulco in 2015. O'Brien has had five runners in the four years since, having run only one earlier in the 2010s. He has clearly his best chance yet with More Beautiful.

As Coolmore horses go, More Beautiful is bred to be precocious. She is by War Front, sire of Chesham winner Battleground among plenty of other speedier O'Brien horses, out of champion two-year-old filly Maybe. It therefore might be prudent not to expect quite the same level of first-to-second-run improvement associated with her trainer, but 12lb would be enough in a normal year and that is not a huge jump to expect from an early two-year-old. Battleground improved 18lb, Tactical in the Windsor Castle 14lb. The average improvement shown by the Queen Mary over the last ten years has been 15lb.

Those who are genuinely concerned about the draw would be advised to wait until after the Silver Wokingham before striking their bets. But the advice is that any bias still in the track is a function of the pace. With the Wesley Ward-trained Campanelle right out on a limb in stall 1, the prospect of two groups forming in the Queen Mary needs to be considered.

Keith Melrose, betting editor

Ward out to defend fine record

If there were one race Wesley Ward would like to roll up and take back to the United States with him it would surely be the Queen Mary, his success stretching back to Jealous Again in 2009 and taking in Acapulco and the remarkable Lady Aurelia along the way.

Ward has had more than the usual logistical problems to overcome this year with the quarantine rules making life extra difficult.

His two candidates arrive without either their trainer or the usual fanfare associated with a Ward challenge for this race, although Campanelle's defeat of her stablemate had some clockers at Gulfstream Park on May 31 taking notice.

Long-time Ward ally Frankie Dettori is entrusted with the ride aboard Campanelle, while Silvestre de Sousa gets the call on Royal Approval.

"Campanelle ran powerfully to win on her debut last month when recording a Beyer Speed Figure of 79, the highest recorded on the the turf so far this season in the US," said Ward. "We had to wait for racing to fully get going to start her because she can only run on the grass.

"She's very precocious and we identified her early as an ideal Queen Mary type. Royal Approval was three and a half lengths behind Campanelle on her debut at Gulfstream. I think all the runners I have this year are quality and this Tiznow filly has plenty of speed."

What they say

David Loughnane, trainer of Caroline Dale
She's a homebred for David and Janet Lowe and we also trained the half-brother Baby Steps. She's never put a foot wrong since she walked into the yard. She's been very professional and has always shown a bit more than the rest. I was very happy with her first run when she probably got left in front a bit too long. I think this straight five will suit better. She is very sharp and very straightforward and I think she is a huge price. She has improved massively for the run and we're certainly not going there to make up the numbers.

Jessica Harrington, trainer of Dickiedooda
It's a quick turnaround and the ground is not ideal. She's over there so she might as well run. I don't know how she'll handle it.

Dickiedooda and Shane Foley storm to success at the CurraghCredit: Patrick McCann

Denis Hogan, trainer of Grammata
The short turnaround is a bit of an issue and the ground is a worry. She will have come on from the run but she could do with another week. She's a top-of-the-ground filly and if the ground gets much worse I would consider taking her out.

Adrian Nicholls, trainer of Mamba Wamba
It's very exciting for us and I think she's a live outsider. Aidan's filly looked very good at Naas and we're drawn near her, so there's no better man to follow than Ryan [Moore]. The ground won't be a problem for her and she won't disgrace herself.

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of More Beautiful
We were delighted with her first time up and have been happy with her since. All of the two-year-olds have a quick turnaround to overcome and she's no different. The ground isn't ideal but we're happy with her.

William Haggas, trainer of Sacred
She is a lovely filly and pretty useful. My main worry is the ground. She's by Exceed And Excel and she's got a very nice action so I'm not sure she'll enjoy it if it's slow. But she's a talented filly. She's an attractive filly and she'll go on. She may well get six furlongs but she has a lot of speed.

Roger Varian, trainer of Sardinia Sunset
The form of her second in a maiden at Newmarket is working out and she seems to have come on a bit for the run at home. She doesn't look out of place in the race and we are hopeful she can handle the ground.

Tom Dascombe, trainer of Scarlet Bear
It was a suitable race for her at a racecourse I really like but we just felt she didn’t quite get home. It’s a big ask running in the Queen Mary having run once and been beaten. But we like the filly and I think in a normal year she would deserve to take her chance, so that’s what we’re going to do.

James Given, trainer of Sparkling Perry
She was raised at the lovely quiet Bearstone Stud and came to my rural yard so the third thing she ever saw in her life was Newcastle racecourse. She got a little bit of stage fright and to add insult to injury she then got sand in her face. We knew she was better than that and as she was then still green when she won at Doncaster, she's capable of taking another step forward. She was almost over racing early on last time and so dropping back to five should hold no fears. There's lots to look forward to.

Kevin Ryan, trainer of Star Emaraaty
She has come out of her debut second over six furlongs at Haydock well. That was a lovely start and she's come on for it. She showed plenty of speed that day and I feared that, with that run under her belt, she wasn't sure to get home over six at Ascot, so I felt she'll do better dropping back to a stiff five.

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Stan Moore, trainer of The Good Ting
I think she'll be a nice filly and I expect her to run a respectable race. She is still a bit unfurnished but it was a nice introduction. She got baulked on the bend otherwise the jockey felt he would have won. She is a tall, angular filly so she'll only improve.

Richard Spencer, trainer of Wings Of A Dove
She ran well in what looks a strong fillies' maiden on debut at Newmarket, she travelled strongly but didn't handle the dip. She's come on for that, she's got a good draw and she'll by five furlongs at Ascot so we're quietly hopeful of a good run.

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