Who Will Win the Queen Anne Stakes?

The Queen Anne Stakes holds one of the biggest purses at the Royal Ascot festival, with £400,000 being divided between the winners. It is run over a distance of exactly one mile on the famous straight course at Ascot. Open to horses aged four years or older, it is a Group 1 race, the highest level a race can reach. This means that competition is stiff and we've decided to unpick the form and therefore the chances of some of the most fancied horses.

Baaeed

In terms of devastating records, Baaeed's couldn't be much stronger. From seven starts, over a mile each, he's had seven wins. The longest distance was by 7 and a half lengths in a novice race at Newmarket, while the shortest winning distance was just a neck, in last year's running of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, also run at the straight course at Ascot. Based on this performance, he ought to fair well on exactly the same racecourse, and the same distance, over likely similar ground, with Ascot generally being somewhere between good and soft. He had a long enough break after that victory and punters were holding their breath to see if he'd come back just as good for his four-year-old year and it seems that he has. He's had just one run so far this year in the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. This was also a Group 1 race and he won it with absolute ease, by a distance of three and a quarter lengths having hardly come under pressure. It's not hard to see why Baaeed is one of the shortest-priced favourites for Royal Ascot 2022, but that doesn't mean he is unopposable. There are definitely a couple of other horses in the running who could throw a fly into the ointment for this unbeaten colt.

Master of the Seas

Charlie Appleby is frequently mentioned in our sport section as the excellent trainer that he is, making the right decision time and time again for the horses on his yard. He and owners the Godolphin Stud made the difficult decision to have Master of the Seas gelded after his three year old season and it has seemed to pay off. Gelding a horse removes the possibility of breeding from them later in life, which will obviously remove the possibility of lucrative stud fees. However, some horses benefit from the reduced testosterone, making them more focused on the task at hand. It doesn't always work this way, but in the case of Master of the Seas, it certainly has. He had raced well as both a two- and three-year-old, but he came back with a bang when defeating Megallan, a promising horse trained by John and Thady Gosden in the Earl Of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket. Although he only won by just over a length, Master of the Seas made it look easy coming under slight pressure on the run in and cruising past his opponent. A win like this looks good for the gelding and he might not make things easy for Baaeed on the day.

Aldaary

Another horse from the Willliam Haggas yard, Aldaary will be joining stablemate Baaeed for the Queen Anne Stakes. Although he doesn't have the same unbeaten record as his stablemate, there's a good chance he'll be in the running for at least some of the place money. The chestnut gelding was impressive last time out at Haydock, where he won the Pertemps Network Spring Trophy Stakes comfortably, giving second place Bounce the Blues 3 and a half lengths. Although this was only a listed race, there were some good quality horses present, so this performance is not to be sniffed at.