'She's really lovely' says Aidan O'Brien - the three most exciting horses on Royal Ascot Trials Day at Naas

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It's a blockbuster Royal Ascot Trials day card at Naas on Sunday, a meeting that has pinpointed six winners at the midsummer festival in the last five years.

These are the three biggest names to keep an eye from the eight-race card.

Charles Darwin

The Commonwealth Cup favourite Charles Darwin is out to cement his status as the most promising young sprinter in the game when he bids to extend his winning streak to five in Group 3 Goffs Lacken Stakes (4.56).

Already as short as 4-1 for the Group 1 sprint for three-year-olds at Royal Ascot, Charles Darwin returned to action with an emphatic enough success at Navan, but Aidan O’Brien believes there is more to come from the speedy son of No Nay Never.

The trainer said of Charles Darwin: “He seems to be very well and this race has always been the plan for him on the way to Ascot. He’s done very little wrong in his life. He’s a very quick horse and everything has gone well since his return at Navan.”

Charles Darwin’s biggest danger according to the market is Royal Bay Cen, an extremely shrewd €20,000 purchase from France who made an explosive stable debut for Johnny Murtagh when landing the Listed Polonia Stakes at Cork by a staggering nine lengths, a performance which has seen her handicap mark soar from 98 to 107.

Charles Darwin16:56 Naas

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Jky: Ryan Moore Tnr: A P O'Brien

Victorious

When Aidan O’Brien describes a filly as “really lovely” you seriously need to take note.

That’s exactly what he called Victorious when asked about her ahead of her eagerly awaited second racecourse appearance in the Group 3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Sprint Stakes (4.26).

This is a race with a rich recent history as the winners of it in 2022, 2023 and 2024 all went on to win the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot on their next start – Meditate, Porta Fortuna and Fairy Godmother. Indeed, last year’s winner Lady Iman went on to be sent off just 11-2 in the Nunthorpe, while the mighty Alpha Centauri won it in 2017.

Victorious won what is traditionally a hot fillies’ maiden over course and distance last month and O’Brien is expecting her to take a big leap forward from that impressive debut where she posted a Racing Post rating of 81.

O’Brien said of Victorious: “She’s really lovely and we like her. She was very green the first day, but we were delighted with the way she finished out her race. We couldn’t have been any happier with her that day and we think she has come forward a lot from that run, too. She’s just a very nice filly.”

Victorious faces some classy juvenile rivals, though, and none more promising than Velozee, who is two from two for Paddy Twomey.

Victorious16:26 Naas

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Jky: Ryan Moore Tnr: A P O'Brien

Star Prospect

Star Prospect looked exactly that when squeezing through a gap and sprinting clear to win a Curragh maiden on debut last month, a performance that was very easy on the eye.

The Starman colt, who is a half-brother to the speedy Ameeq, takes on New Yorker in what promises to be a very informative running of the Coolmore Stud Blackbeard Race (2.56) over the minimum trip, which was won last year by Charles Darwin and by subsequent Coventry Stakes victor River Tiber in 2023.

Joseph O’Brien, who last won this contest with Andreas Vesalius in 2021, said of Star Prospect: “He’s been training nicely since his debut. This looks like a competitive race, but the timing is good for us and we were hoping for a good run. We hope he will show that he has built upon his debut effort.”