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*Featured/Spotlights, Racing

Lady Aurelia Set for a Return to Royal Ascot

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Photo: Keeneland via Twitter.

American sprinter Lady Aurelia has established herself as one of the quickest horses on the planet over the last couple of seasons and she will get the opportunity to win another big race in Europe later this year when she travels across to the UK for the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Wesley Ward’s runner first rose to prominence as a two-year-old in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2016, where she made all in a dominant display which saw her prevail by seven lengths on her first appearance in the UK.

The filly returned to the Royal meeting last year to take on the opposite sex and much more experienced horses in the King’s Stand Stakes when going off at 7/2 in the betting for one of the leading spring races at the meeting. Under the hands of John Velazquez, she was ridden prominently once again and was able to hit top speed inside the final 200 metres to score by three lengths ahead of Profitable and Marsha, respectively.

Lady Aurelia is 4.5 in the ante-post betting for the King’s Stand Stakes next month and she is sure to be popular, especially with punters who take advantage of the best free betting offers on Royal Ascot, including a £30 free offer from Dafabet. Her odds drifted slightly recently as she was beaten on her seasonal reappearance at Keeneland in the Giant’s Causeway Stakes where she had to settle for second place behind Triple Chelsea.

Battaash Looks to Continue Dominance in Sprint Division

Battaash is the bookmakers’ favourite at 3.5 for the King’s Stand Stakes, following what was a dominant campaign in 2017, with four victories coming from his five starts. Charles Hills’ runner is set for his first outing at Royal Ascot this year and will be bidding to prevail in one of the biggest sprint races in the British Champion Series.

The son of Dark Angel beat a strong field in the Group Two King George Stakes at Glorious Goodwood last year which earned him the opportunity to line up in a Group One field. Connections took their chance in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York. Unfortunately for those associated with the horse, he did not produce his best performance of the season as he could only come home fourth on the Knavesmire.

Battaash had a second shot at Group One contest at Chantilly in the Prix de l’Abbaye. With Champion Jockey Jim Crowley on his back, the pair made all in France in what was a career-best performance from the then three-year-old. Given what he has achieved in the last 12 months, he is arguably the best sprinter in Europe right now.

Redkirk Warrior to Carry the Flag for Australia

FlemingtonRacecourse via Twitter

Australian horses often travel across to the UK for Royal Ascot – in particular, the leading sprinters who tackle the European horses in the King’s Stand Stakes and Diamond Jubilee Stakes. Redkirk Warrior has an entry in both races.

The seven-year-old has two Group One wins in the bag already this year at Flemington. He last raced at Ascot in 2014 when he was based in the UK in William Haggas’ stable.

Royal Ascot begins on June 19 and the King’s Stand Stakes is one of the feature races on day one of the meeting.

*Featured/Spotlights, Racing

Lady Aurelia Set for Royal Ascot Trip

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Ascot Racecourse via Twitter.

Leading American sprinter Lady Aurelia is set for a return to Royal Ascot this year 12 months on from her impressive victory in the Group Two Queen Mary Stakes on what was only the second run of her career. Wesley Ward’s runner is the bookmakers’ favourite for the King’s Stand Stakes which is one of the leading races on the opening day of the meeting.

Frankie Dettori opted to ride his filly front of the field in the two-year-old-contest in 2016 and the pair made all, stretching away from their rivals inside the final 200m of the race. Ward’s filly returned to Europe last August for the Group One Darley Prix Morny at Deauville in France. She was made to work hard on that occasion as the margin of the victory was less than a length ahead of Alrahma, with the Aidan O’Brien-trained Peace Envoy a further head back in third.

Lady Aurelia made her seasonal reappearance back in April at Keeneland in the Giant’s Causeway Stakes which is a Listed contest over 1000m on turf. She proved too strong for her fellow American sprinters as she recorded her opening win as a three-year-old. That run was scheduled to ensure she had an outing under her belt before her return trip to Europe. She can be backed at +500 with the bookmakers to score in the King’s Stand Stakes, however, if you are having bet at Royal Ascot or any other sporting event this summer, take a look at the best sign-up offers before you do so. If you want to bet with bitcoins, visit sportsbet.io as you will able to transfer funds from a number of different currencies into your digital wallet.

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One of the leading threats to Lady Aurelia’s chances of a repeat Royal Ascot victory later this month is Marsha from the Sir Mark Prescott yard in the UK. The four-year-old won the Group One Qatar Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp at Chantilly last season. That is the leading sprint race in Europe and is staged on the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe day. The British sprinter has also started this season strongly with success in the Palace House Stakes at Newmarket where he got up by a neck ahead of Washington DC.

Lady Aurelia is also scheduled to take on her former stablemate Acapulco in the 1000m contest. The four-year-old switched to Ireland to join O’Brien’s Ballydoyle yard back in April.  The American-bred filly also won the Queen Mary Stakes when she was with Ward, while she also finished second in the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes at York. She made her debut for her new trainer last month where she won at the Curragh in what was her first run in six months. She is expected to be partnered by Ryan Moore once again at Royal Ascot.

Ward is expected to return to the UK later this year with Lady Aurelia and a number of his leading sprinters for some of the other big meetings on the calendar including Glorious Goodwood and York’s Ebor Meeting in August.