Who wins the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot?

The wait is almost over for Royal Ascot, the pinnacle of the British flat racing season. We have 5 days of action-packed racing, the weather is forecast to be glorious and the stage is set for our equine superstars.

The opener on day 1 is the Queen Anne Stakes, a Group 1 race for horses aged 4 years+ which is run over a mile. The ground is set to be Good To Firm and the top 4 in the market are Rosallion (2/1), Lead Artist (5/1), Notable Speech (5/1) and Dancing Gemini (6/1).

These top 4 all faced off last time out in the Lockinge at Newbury. That day Lead Artist came out on top, followed by Dancing Gemini, Rosallion and Notable Speech. However, it was Rosallion's and Notable Speech's seasonal reappearance.

So let's dive into some form. Rosallion is the only contender of the top 4 with winning course form, and is 2 from 2 at the Ascot track. The only other contenders in the field with winning course form are outsiders, Quddwah and Docklands. Docklands has placed or better in all of his starts at Ascot - which is some record. He has been well-supported in the market and is into 16/1 after opening up well in the 20's.

The best THM Scores on offer from last time out are Lead Artist (862) and Dancing Gemini (856) for their impressive performances at Newbury. Rosallion posted his highest score of 854 when winning over a mile at Ascot on the Good To Firm ground last year, and if we look past the reappearance run last time out, you can probably say he’s a worthy favourite.

Notable Speech posted an 860 when he won the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood on the Good To Firm ground, but hasn’t been able to reach these heights since. He did put in a solid performance on his seasonal reappearance in the Lockinge though, so write him off at your peril.

If we take a look at our Average Speed tab it's clear the Lockinge was run at a decent pace, with all the top 4 running faster than the THM Standard average on that outing. Diego Velazquez’s speed figure also stands out. He ran 2.31kph faster than the THM Standard Average during his win at Leopardstown last time out.