Overseas raiders capable of leaving Royal Ascot with two victories
Published:The entrants from outside of Britain and Ireland have had something to smile about in the last eight meetings of Royal Ascot and more success can be expected in 2013.
Looking solely at the Group 1 races across the five days of the meeting, the overseas entrants have enjoyed at least one winner in every year since 2004.
Their team is fairly strong on paper again this year and this reason, alongside their previous record, makes 5/2 worth opposing that there is no Group 1 winner trained outside of Britain and Ireland this year.
Favourite in this particular market is one overseas-trained winner at 1/1 and this has been achieved in four of the last 10 years.
But, two winners have been celebrated the same number of times in this period and given that they have leading chances in four of the seven Group 1 renewals in 2013, the price for two winners has greater appeal at 5/2.
Topping the overseas bill is Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom, who is set to go off odds-on favourite for the Queen Anne Stakes after the withdrawals of chief challengers Farhh and Cityscape.
The undercard is not bad either, with French 1,000 Guineas victor Flotilla among the most fancied entrants in the Coronation Stakes, where she could line up against the winner of the British equivalent in Sky Lantern.
Meanwhile, in seven of the last 10 years, the King’s Stand sprint over 5f has been won by overseas entrants and its truly international feel was enhanced last year with the triumph of the Hong Kong-trained Little Bridge.
The overseas team are two-handed this year to keep up their strong record with Meydan Group 1 winner Shea Shea joined by Australian speed merchant Shamexpress.
Perhaps the least fancied of the favoured four is Maxios in the Prince Of Wales Stakes as he takes on the likes of Al Kazeem and Camelot, but the 1m2f looks the ideal trip and he is a former Group 1 winner.
Three victories from horses trained outside of Britain and Ireland in Royal Ascot Group 1 contests were achieved in 2005 and it could prove a big price at 12/1 that there are three or more this time, especially with four more than viable contenders in different races.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
