Royal Ascot 2015: Queen Anne Stakes preview (14.30)

A mouthwatering Group 1 clash between international stars Able Friend and Solow kicks Royal Ascot 2015 off, and the former is taken to come out on top and land a stellar renewal of the 1m Queen Anne Stakes.

Able Friend is trained in Hong Kong by John Moore, and has won his last six starts at Sha Tin in spectacular fashion.

Three of those have been in Group 1 contests, and in the last of those the five-year-old hardly had to break sweat when showing his usual devastating turn of foot to land the Champions Mile by 1 1/2 lengths.

It was a performance which oozed class, and Able Friend is undoubtedly one of the best-ever horses trained in Hong Kong.

This son of Shamardal has a high cruising speed and potent change of gear, and has now won 11 of his 16 starts and amassed over £4m in prize money.

The only question mark is whether Able Friend will be as effective over a straight mile on what is a stiff track, but I can’t see it being a problem and, with regular rider Joao Moreira in the saddle, he looks the one to beat.

French raider Solow has won nine of his last 10 starts and rates the obvious danger.

The Freddie Head trained colt put in a stunning performance on his penultimate outing when beating The Grey Gatbsy by 4 1/2 lengths in the Group 1 Dubai Turf in Meydan, and followed up with an easy 1 1/2 length success in the Group1 1 Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp last month.

On both occasions Solow travelled powerfully before quickening well to put the race to bed, and the five-year-old is clearly on a serious upward curve.