June 23 - In June every year, Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, England plays host to Great Britain's biggest and most coveted flat horseracing event, the five-day Royal Ascot meeting, and this year's event was packed with top-notch racing action to the delight of the tens of thousands of racegoers who attended this year.

This year's Royal Ascot kicked off on Tuesday last week with five exhilarating and wager-worthy outings, three of them Gr 1 races. They were the Queen Anne Stakes (Gr 1), the King's Stand Stakes (Gr 1), the St James?s Palace Stakes (Gr 1), the Coventry Stakes, the Ascot Stakes and the Windsor Castle Stakes.

Arguably the best of these races was the King's Stand Stakes, which was won is fine style by Australian sprinter, Scenic Blast. From the outset of the 5 furlong race over firm ground, the Aussie dominated. So much so, that his connections probably regretted not entering him in Saturday's Golden Jubilee Stakes (Gr1).

Day two saw the running of the Jersey Stakes, the Windsor Forest Stakes, the Prince of Wales's Stakes (Gr 1), the Royal Hunt Cup, the Queen Mary Stakes and the Sandringham Stakes. As expected, in the Prince of Wales's Stakes it was well-backed French runner Vision d'Etat who delivered a convincing victory.

On Day three of Royal Ascot, the Gold Cup (Gr 1) proved to be the highlight of the day, out of the Ribblesdale Stakes, the Britannia Stakes, the Hampton Court Stakes and the King George V Stakes. In the Gold Cup, Irish runner Yeats crossed the line first, ridden by top jock Johnny Murtagh for trainer, Aiden O'Brien.

Day four saw the Albany Stakes, the King Edward VII Stakes, the Coronation Stakes (Gr 1), the Wolferton Rated Stakes, the Queen's Vase and the Buckingham Palace Stakes being contested. In the Coronation Stakes, it was Barry Hills' Ghanaati who triumphed, setting a new course record of 1:38.32 over the mile.

And finally Day five on Saturday saw some incredible racing. Out of the Chesham Stakes, the Hardwicke Stakes, the Golden Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1), the Wokingham Stakes, the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes and the Queen Alexandra Stakes, it was the Golden Jubilee Stakes that the formidable Royal Ascot crowd came for.

Although South African thoroughbred JJ The Jet Plane went into the 6 furlong race the 5-2 favorite, it was 20-1 longshot Art Connoisseur who crossed the line first after a gutsy run. Trained by Michael Bell, Art Connoisseur recently came off a long break following an injury, but is clearly fully recovered following his win.

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Zenyatta Favorite for 2009 Vanity Handicap - 06-25-09

Winter Cup Could be Final Race for Prince Arthur - 06-24-09

Foreign Races Added to 09 Breeders Cup Program - 06-24-09

Ghanaati Gallops Home in Coronation Stakes - 06-22-09

Criticism Set for Victory in New York Stakes - 06-20-09

Churchill Downs Sees the Night Light - 06-19-09

Friday Betting Guide for Fairview Racing - 06-18-09


2012/04/02 06:44:08 AM