The Ascot Festival gets underway today for three days excellent racing of which the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, a Group 1 worth £250,000.00 for 3yo’s+ over the Ascot round mile, takes centre stage and will be run on Saturday. There have been some super horses win this race over the years and in my blog of the race in September 2007 I did list past winners since 1959. This year sees Henrythenavigator and Ravens Pass (pictured) take on each other again. There was not much between them on their last meeting and I am hoping this time Ravens Pass can get his head in front where it matters. For the third Saturday running I will be recording the racing on my Sky+ box for watching later in the day. I will be at Portman Road Ipswich to cheer on “The Blues” and hope to see them secure a badly needed three points.
I see there has been a lot of money for Duke of Marmalade for the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe which will be run next Sunday (5th October) in France. If the going remains good I am sure he will take a lot of beating. However if the going changed to soft Ballydoyle have Soldier of Fortune to fall back on. It appears this has always been his long term objective, but I guess much depends on the going for both horses. For all the runners and riders for Ascot click on the sporting life.