Australian sprinter Star Witness has been declared to run but Godolphin have withdrawn their big hope Delegator from tonight's Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot because of the testing ground.
Photo by Racing and Sports
The track is soft with 7mm of rain overnight and more is forecast during Saturday.
While Delegator will be held over for his next start in the July Cup at Newmarket the Star Witness team have made the decision to run, relying on his Melbourne form in soft going to stand up.
He is expected to assume favouritism but there are host of runners being freely tipped to win the big sprint including Bewitched, last year's runner up Society Rock, Hooray and Dalghara.
Bewitched will attempt to be the first female to win Golden Jubilee in its current form. Posanda in 1988 was the last mare to claim the race under its former entity as the Cork And Orrery Stakes.
Despite that statistic the Charles O'Brien-trained four-year-old has strong claims as a course-and-distance winner last season in Group 3 company when she beat Golden Jubilee rivals Genki and Jimmy Styles on easy ground.
She is again in top form after making a winning return over seven furlongs at Leopardstown last month when she beat Zoffany by nearly two lengths and that horse has since run Frankel to a near upset this week when second in Tuesday's St James's Palace Stakes.
The hesitation over running Star Witness was a surprise as he has form on slow ground in Melbourne.
Backing up from Tuesday's unlucky second in the King's Stand will suit over the extra furlong and he should again have the measure of Kingsgate Native, who won this race in 2008 but was only fifth on Tuesday.
The three-year-old filly Hooray, trained by Sir Mark Prescott, won the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes over 6f last season and bounced back from a loss in the 1000 Guineas with a win over 7f at Epsom.
She should cope with the underfoot conditions and may find the track more suitable than the 3YO colt Elzaam, who won on fast going at Newbury.
Society Rock was second in the Golden Jubilee last year as a 3YO and looks to be back in that form after his last start second behind the highly progressive Bated Breath and the expected strong pace of this race should suit his running style.
Australia's Starspangledbanner won the Golden Jubilee last years after being unplaced in the Duke Of York Stakes and Dalghar may well follow suit after pleasing in that event at his first start for Andrew Balding.
The five-year-old was beaten three lengths by Delegator at York but the more testing conditions at Ascot will suit with his expected improved fitness.
He has won in soft ground in France, ran well in similar going in the Diadem Stakes at Ascot last September and underlined his class when he wasn't beaten far by Goldikova in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot last year.
