2010 Royal Ascot: Day 1 Results

-What more can be written about Goldikova?  Put her in a race at a mile on good ground and she'll get it done time and again.  For a moment in the Queen Anne Stakes it looked like Paco Boy might have the momentum to go by Goldikova in the shadow of the wire.  But the champion mare had just enough left in the tank to hold onto the top spot by a head. 

-Equiano's (FR) form was just awful for much of 2009, but he started to turn things around in 2010 when he won a listed stake and a Group 2 at Newmarket, followed by a second in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock.  He continued his fine form today.

-I didn't give Noble's Promise much of a chance going into the St James's Palace Stakes today but I've got to give him a lot of credit for his effort.  He didn't win (he finished 5^th) but he ran hard and fit in decently enough with a very good field.  No word on where Noble's Promise will be pointed to next, but I'd be shocked if he's not pointed toward a race on the lawn at a mile back in the U.S.

-The performance of the day for me was that of Junior in the 2 ½ miles Ascot Stakes. It's not just that this horse won a race that long, but the fact that he won it in gate-to-wire fashion with the field struggling to make up ground in the final furlongs.  Who says a two and a half mile race can't be exciting?

-Wesley Ward's Metropolitan Man, a colt that burst from the starting gate in his debut at Keeneland and opened up a big lead in a matter of yards, couldn't grab an easy lead in the Windsor Castle Stakes and faded badly in the stretch.   

You can view a compilation video of the stretch runs of each of today's races at Royal Ascot at their official site.