He is the dominant force in the training ranks and after his masterful handling of City Of Troy saw him retain the Epsom Derby, we look into more depth at the headline acts among Aidan O’Brien’s Royal Ascot squad.
Henry Longfellow – St James’s Palace Stakes (Tuesday, 18th June)
Currently trading at the shortest price of any of his Group 1 contenders on day one of Royal Ascot, Henry Longfellow went through his juvenile season unbeaten, culminating in the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh. He disappointed on reappearance in the French 2000 Guineas at Longchamp, but did not get the smoothest of passages through that race, while the ground may have been unsuitably soft too. He is likely to bounce back from that, being so outstandingly bred by Dubawi out of Minding, and should be strongly considered for success in the St James’s Palace Stakes on Tuesday.
Auguste Rodin – Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Wednesday, 19th June)
Houdini before it became the norm, Auguste Rodin was the first star of O’Brien’s to re-emerge in the Derby after a poor run in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. Since that Derby success, he has added three more Group 1s, including the Irish Derby and Breeders’ Cup Turf, but has not yet kicked on as a four-year-old. He landed no blows in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan and could only trail in White Birch’s wake in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. Nevertheless, that run in second was an improvement and we know he can find his best after disappointments.
Kyprios – Gold Cup (Thursday, 20th June)
A winner of ten of his 14 career starts, Kyprios was undoubtedly the star stayer of the 2022 flat season, going through the year unbeaten. Four of his victories came in Groups 1s, including in the Gold Cup, while he won the Prix Du Cadran by 20 lengths at Longchamp. 2023 was a campaign blighted by injuries, but he has returned in 2024 by winning the two races in Ireland he claimed at the start of 2022, before he went on his outstanding spree. The staying division has not birthed a superstar in the meantime and he is very much the one to beat if back on song.
Opera Singer – Coronation Stakes (Friday, 21st June)
City Of Troy belied any doubts about Justify’s progeny training on at three, and that lifting of the cloud appears to have increased the confidence in Opera Singer for the Coronation Stakes. O’Brien’s striking filly stormed to Group 1 glory at the end of her two-year-old season and returned in decent enough fettle when third in the Irish 1000 Guineas. She was firmly put in her place by Karl Burke’s Fallen Angel that day, but improvement is likely to be in the offing ahead of the royal meeting and she will prove a significant adversary if finding it.
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