Princess of Wales's Stakes Guide 2021

William Haggas is looking for his first Princess of Wales’s Stakes success and is pinning his hopes upon current short priced favourite, Al Aasy.

The Sea The Stars colt was a Group 3 winner as a 3yo (12f) before subsequently solidyfying his efforts as a 4yo with impressive wins in the John Porter (G3, 12f) and the Al Rayyan stakes (G3, 12f) both of which are ran at Newbury.

Last time out, Al Aasy made the step up to Group 1 company and was painfully unlucky to miss out by a neck to Pyledriver after the pair went 7 lengths clear of the rest of the field in the Epsom Coronation Cup (12f).

That form puts him as a clear top contender in this on the step back down in class and he enjoys the softer conditions he’s likely to encounter, thereby making him the rightful favourite.

Mark Johnston’s Sir Ron Priestley is an out and out stayer at this trip being a listed winner over 14f and a Group 2 winner over 12f here at Newmarket in May.

That C&D win puts him well into contention here having beat Pyledriver that day, interweaving form with favourite Al Aasy, although it must be noted that Sir Ron Priestley had a fitness edge with that race being Pylderivers first after a layoff.

The son of Australia’s run style is well suited to the July course which often favours horses attempting to make all the running.

Having said this, Sir Ron Priestley’s best form has come over fast ground and the switch to a rain softened surface may just count against him.

Sir Michael Stoute is the leading trainer in this race with past 9 winners, although the most recent of those was now 9 years ago in 2012.

Highest Ground is a son of Frankel and looked nothing short of a good thing when finishing a neck runner up in the Dante (10.5f, G2) as a 3yo.

Some lesser performances followed however and the 4yo colt looked to have found his distance when landing a class 3 affair over 12f at Leicester on quick ground.

A 9th placed finish in the Hardwicke (G2, 12f) followed that win, finishing behind re-opposing rivals Hukum, Sir Ron Priestly and Ilaraab, albeit upon unsuited heavy ground.

Ryan Moore rides and the money has come for this runner, making him an interesting proposition in the race as he’s clearly capable; however his current levels of form across his last 4 races fall short of that expected of a potential Group 2 winner.

Andrew Balding is yet to win the Princess of Wales’s Stakes and comes to Newmarket sporting entrant, Bangkok, a Group 3 winner in the Sandown Classic Trial as a 3yo (10f).

His level on the turf has been below that form ever since however, only notably scoring twice since in listed company on the all-weather.

This will be the son of Australia’s first run over 12f since June 2019 in which Bangkok went down by 4 lengths when finishing 2nd to Japan in the Group 2 King Edward VIII stakes at Ascot and he may just improve for the step back up to the distance here.

It must be noted however that he is a horse who often races keenly, which may just cause him to blow his gasket over this longer trip.

The Charlie Appleby and James Doyle combo won this race in 2017 with Hawkbill and return here with Star Safari who remains somewhat of an unknown quality on British soil.

A son of Sea The Stars, Star Safari, was a class 4 winner as a 2yo at Nottingham before immediately being shipped over to France and then subsequently to Meydan (UAE) at which he landed a couple of handicaps before scoring in a Group 3 race on his penultimate start (10f).

The 5yo gelding finished back in 6th last time out at Meydan in a Group 1 on his first try over the 12f trip, weakening in the final furlong, and he now returns to the UK to attempt the distance once more.