2016 Royal Ascot news: Profitable punted, Maria to take on the boys

The mare was a shock winner of the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at the showpiece meeting last summer, but proved it to be no fluke with subsequent triumphs in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket and the Prix Rothschild at Deauville.

O’Meara was delighted with her comeback third in the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket last month, and had been toying with the idea of letting the five-year-old defend her crown in the Duke of Cambridge.

However, Amazing Maria would carry a penalty in that race as it is confined to fillies and that has persuaded him to run her in the Group 1 Queen Anne.

He told At The Races: “We stuck to her own sex last year with her, so going against the boys is a bit of an unknown.

“But she was very good in Ascot, the Falmouth and in France last year, so rather than take on the fillies with the penalty, we’ll have a crack at the Queen Anne.”

No ground fears for Awtaad

Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Awtaad is on course for the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot next week, and trainer Kevin Prendergast believes his crack colt will not have any problem coping with the forecast quicker ground at the Berkshire venue.

The three-year-old raised the roof at the Curragh last month when he gave 83-year-old Prendergast a second Irish Guineas – 40 years after his first with Northern Treasure.

Awtaad quickened impressively to easily beat English 2,000 Guineas winner Galileo Gold on yielding ground, but Prendergast is confident that he will be just as effective under different conditions.

He said: “Awtaad runs in the St James’s Palace. He doesn’t need cut in the ground and I’m happy with him.”

As well as the English and Irish Guineas winners, Aidan O’Brien’s awesome wide-margin French Guineas winner The Gurkha is also set to line-up in the Group 1 contest run over 1m on Tuesday, June 14th.

The Gurkha is currently 6/4 favourite with Coral, with Awtaad next best in at 3/1, narrowly ahead of Galileo Gold on 7/2.

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