Lady Pauline in great shape to book Queen Mary place

2.15 Ascot
Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Royal Ascot Two-Year-Old Trial Conditions Stakes | 5f, 2yo | Sky

Wesley Ward won the first race of Ascot's Flat racing season three years ago with Create A Dream, and looks primed to do so again in 2019 if reputation proves any guide.

That winner went on to finish fourth in the Albany Stakes at the royal meeting, but hopes are high Lady Aurelia's half-sister Lady Pauline can prove herself in a different league by booking her place in the Queen Mary Stakes with victory in this £14,000 conditions race.

Lady Aurelia provided one of the best performances of Royal Ascot in 2016, when scorching home by seven lengths in the Queen Mary.

Lady Pauline looked another potential star when bolting up by nearly ten lengths on her debut at Keeneland on dirt, and Ward is keen to get more experience into her ahead of Royal Ascot.

"She's just shipped over there seamlessly, and I'm looking for a good showing," he said. "She’s held all her weight, her eyes are bright and we have no worries.

Lady Aurelia's Queen Mary success was the standout performance by a juvenile fillyCredit: Julian Herbert

"Keeneland kindly allowed her to breeze on their turf course recently – that's the closest to European turf we have in the States – and she just flew over it.

"The turf was soft that day, but she'll like the good to firm ground at Ascot too. I always like to get two races into my two-year-olds before Royal Ascot for experience. I think it gives them a big advantage. The fact she gets experience of Ascot is a big plus as well."

Lady Pauline, the mount of John Velazquez, receives 8lb from the hat-trick-seeking Zulu Zander, whose trainer David Evans believes will run a big race.

"He's a nice horse with a nice attitude, and is filling out all the time," said Evans. "He's got to give weight away, which doesn't help, but he'll run well."

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Queen Power, winner of her sole start as a juvenile, holds an Investec Oaks entry and is one of ten runners in the following contest, the mile fillies' conditions stakes (2.50), which should also prove illuminating.

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