Those engaged on Day 3 at Royal Ascot with links to Aussie-trained horses
The feature of Day 3 at Royal Ascot is the Gold Cup and while there are no Australian-trained runners in the 4014-metre Group 1, there is no shortage of runners with links to horses we have seen Down Under.
The appearance of last year's Melbourne Cup beaten favourite is a key point of interest, as is Kyprios's quest for a second win in the race.
The latter is a half-brother to Valac, who had his first eight starts in Ireland but accumulated the majority of his $631,848 in winnings in an Australian career that started with victory in a 1606m Benalla maiden and ended with a third placing in last year's Mosstrooper Steeplechase. (3500m).
Four of his 12 wins came over the jumps, while the grey son of Dark Angel won on a Group 3 Queen's Cup (2500m) at Morphettville and a Listed Harry White Classic (2400m) at Mornington on the flat.
One of Kyprios's Gold Cup rivals Gregory (Golden Horn) is a half-brother to Lionel (Lope De Vega), whose two most recent starts have been in Victoria for Ciaron Maher, while Enemy's half-sister was not trained in Australia but campaigned with success in the Melbourne spring of 2019.
Magic Wand (Galileo), who won a Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot, finished fourth in the Cox Plate and 10th in Melbourne Cup before a win in the 2000m Group 1 race now known as the Champions Stakes.
Those Gold Cup runners are just some of those engaged on Day 3 who are linked to horses Australian racing fans would know well.
Race 1 – Whistle Jacket
The hot favourite for the first race is the eighth to race from the Bering mare Adventure Seeker, whose son Little Big Bear – who, like Whistle Jacket, is by No Nay Never – won the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2022 and last year finished runner-up in the G1 Commonwealth Cup.
But her first foal, Andrea Mantegna, did the bulk of his racing in Australia.
The son of Giant's Causeway posted eight of his nine wins in Australia, including Ararat and Horsham Cups and a maiden hurdle win at Hamilton.
Race 2 – Gilded Water
The favourite for the second race also has strong links to Australia and not just because he is by the former champion Aussie stallion, Fastnet Rock.
The William Haggas-trained three-year-old is out of the Galileo mare Fiery Sunset, which makes him a half-brother to Circle Of Fire, a son of Almanzor who is a last-start winner of the G1 Sydney Cup and is the early favourite for this year's Melbourne Cup.
Also in Race 2 is Persica, a colt by New Bay out of Rubira, who was a Listed-winning daughter of Lope De Vega trained by Murray Baker.
Race 5 – Lautrec
The son of Kingman never raced in Australia, nor did any of his siblings, but a couple have stood at Coolmore Stud in the Hunter Valley.
The best-performed of them was St Mark's Basilica, the five-time Group 1-winning son of Siyouni who has stood the past two seasons in Australia and will return this year, while his older half-brother Magna Grecia (Invincible Spirit) stood here from 2020-22.
Also in that event is Vercors, a son of Invincible Spirit, who is a half-brother to globetrotter Dubai Honour, who won the G1 double of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Ranvet Stakes in Sydney last year.
