Mark Johnston Stable Tour

Form profile

Winner of five of his 18 starts and currently rated 104. Returned to winning form when all out to score by half a length from Pogo at Newmarket (7f) this month off a mark of 100.

Trainer says

He will run in the Buckingham Palace Handicap and he probably put up a career best performance when winning at the Guineas meeting. He has gone up 4lb to 104 which will make life tougher, but seven furlongs is ideal for him and he won’t mind if there is any rain around this weekend as he is ideally suited by some cut in the ground. Frankie Dettori will ride him.

Form profile

Winner of seven of his 25 starts and currently rated 115. Finished fifth, beaten three and a half lengths, to Dashing Willoughby in the Listed Buckhound Stakes at Newmarket (1m 4f) last week.

Trainer says

He was pretty rusty at Newmarket on Sunday and on the bare figures it was quite a disappointing run, but it wasn’t a huge shock that he ran like that. Although he has been on the go all spring and we have got a lot of graft into him at home he is always a horse who improves for his first run. Last year he finished down the field in the Geoffrey Freer then won the Jockey Club next time out. He would need a career best to win the Hardwicke Stakes – he finished fourth in the Coronation last year and won two Group 2s and he deserves his chance.

Form profile

Winner of three of his 16 starts and currently rated 100. Finished runner-up, beaten a head, to Sir Busker at Newcastle (1m) this month off a mark of 97.

Trainer says

He ran a really nice race in defeat at Newcastle at the beginning of the month and he will run in the Royal Hunt Cup. He was quite unlucky at Newcastle as he raced on the wrong part of the track and had to come from a long way back and was unlucky not to win. That was probably one of the best performances he has put in for a year or so now after being disappointing last year. He has the ability and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ran a good race. He has come out of his last race very good and we are happy with him.

Form profile

Winner of five of 14 and currently rated 120. Finished runner-up, beaten a short head, to Lord North in the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Haydock (1m 2f) on his reappearance this month.

Trainer says

He will take his chance in the Hardwicke. We were disappointed to get beaten at Haydock on Sunday, but he did run a very nice race in defeat. He just got done for a turn of foot and it looked like Lord North had seen him off and went a length or two up but to be fair to Elarqam he put his head down and galloped right out to the line. He maybe wasn’t suited to that race becoming a little tactical and he would have preferred an end to end gallop. That performance gave us the confidence to try a mile and a half which is something we have been talking about for quite a while.

Form profile

Winner of six of his 21 races and currently rated 113. Made all the running when scoring by four and a half lengths from Lord Tennyson in a listed race at Newmarket (1m) this month.

Trainer says

We might possibly run Marie’s Diamond in the Queen Anne. He is in the Diamed at Newbury on Saturday but if they get all the rain, they are forecast we will probably pull him out. I would be a complete tilt at windmills to run him in a Group 1 but he absolutely hacked up in the Paradise Stakes at Newmarket last week. In a year when other horses might not be 100 per cent going to Ascot first time out and things like that it could be worth throwing the dice. The Middleham Park guys are very astute and know their stuff and wanted to have the entry and maybe have a crack at it. He won so well at Newmarket and is clearly in great heart and if he finished third or fourth you would be over the moon.

Form profile

Winner of one of 3 starts and currently rated 90. Scored by three and three quarter lengths from Arigato at Yarmouth (1m) this month off a mark of 80.

Trainer says

Probably the most interesting one in the Silver Hunt Cup is Maydanny. He is a half brother to Elaqarm and he won very easily at Yarmouth last week. The handicapper has put him up 10lb from 80 to 90 but he is still very unexposed. It would be a big ask for a three times raced horse to go into a Hunt Cup on the back of three runs but hopefully he is still feasibly handicapped.

Form profile

Winner of five of his 16 starts and currently rated 113. Made a winning reappearance in the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes at Newcastle (2m 1/2f) this month when beating stablemate Mildenberger three quarters of a length.

Trainer says

We are planning to run Nayef Road in the Ascot Gold Cup after winning the Sagaro Stakes at Newcastle. He was great at Newcastle and I was a little bit worried that he might need the run there and it was a last-minute rush to get him there. There could be more to come and he won the race quite comfortably but Stradivarius will be a different kettle of fish. It’s an extra half a mile but he was third in the St Leger and won the Sagaro and he has the ideal profile for a Gold Cup horse. We would go there with a live each way chance.

Form profile

Winner of three of his 13 starts and currently rated 100. Highly creditable effort in the Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket (2m 2f) last October when third, beaten half a length, to Stratum off a mark of 95.

Trainer says

In the Ascot Stakes Handicap we will run Summer Moon. He finished third in the Cesarewitch at the backend of last year so he obviously handles these extreme trips very well. He is going there fresh first time out which shouldn’t be an issue and the form of his Cesarewitch run would see him have a decent chance.

Form profile

Winner of three of his 17 starts and currently rated 95. Made a winning reappearance at Newmarket (1m 4f) last week when scoring by two and three quarter lengths from Rock Eagle off a mark of 89.

Trainer says

He will run in the Duke of Edinburgh and it was a race we won last year with Baghdad. He won very well at Newmarket at the weekend and he will need to improve again to win a Royal Ascot handicap off a career high mark but once again he is in very good form and has that run under his belt which could be an advantage over some of his rivals.

Form profile

Winner of four of his 12 starts and currently rated 102. Finished fifth, beaten three and a quarter lengths, to Moon King in a handicap at Haydock (2m) on Saturday off his current mark.

Trainer says

He might run in the Queen Alexandra and will also have an entry in the mile and six race earlier in the week. The key to him running will be fast ground. He would have run in the Ascot Stakes but it’s a 0-100.

Form profile

Winner of seven of his 26 starts and currently rated 108. Finished third, beaten four and a half lengths, to Marie’s Diamond in a listed race at Newmarket on his reappearance this month.

Trainer says

Vale Of Kent will have a tough task off a mark of 108 in the Royal Hunt Cup but he ran really well at Newmarket last week. He would want the ground to really dry out and is best on real fast ground.

Form profile

Winner of 4 of his 7 starts and currently rated 109. Scored by four and three quarter lengths from Sky Defender on his reappearance at Newmarket (1m 2f) last Sunday off his current mark.

Trainer says

If he gets in, we would be quite keen to run West Ender Charmer in the Wolferton. He was very impressive at Newmarket on Sunday and he is a horse we have always thought a huge amount of. He stood on a nail in June of last year just after he won impressively at Doncaster and plenty horses can stand on a nail and be back racing the following weekend but where it penetrated he ended up having to have two surgeries in Newmarket and it took him a year to get him back to the racecourse. His owners were hugely patient, and it was great to see him back at Newmarket and winning impressively. He is going up to a mark of 109 and he is still a lightly raced horse and he looks very good. We would be looking forward to running him, but he would ideally want fast ground.

Form profile

Winner of two of her 5 starts and currently rated 91. Finished fifth, beaten a length and a quarter, to Ziggle Pops on her reappearance at Lingfield (7f) this month off her current mark.

Trainer says

She won impressively at the backend at Newmarket and I was a bit disappointed with her comeback run at Lingfield last week but I am hoping that stepping up to a mile on a more straightforward track will help. She was a filly I was looking forward too during the Winter and hopefully she can bounce back.

Form profile

Winner of three of his 8 starts and currently rated 99. Finished fifth, beaten 13 lengths, to English King in the Listed Derby Trial at Lingfield (1m 3 1/2f) this month.

Trainer says

He was a little disappointing at Lingfield and he will be looking to bounce back in the King George V Handicap.

Form profile

Winner of five of her13 starts and currently rated103. Finished ninth, beaten 11 ½ lengths, to Love in the Group 1 Qipco 1000 Guineas at Newmarket (1m) last Sunday.

Trainer says

She could run in the Sandringham. She didn’t run too bad in the 1000 Guineas when finishing ninth although she was a little bit outclassed at that highest level. This would be calmer water for her

Form profile

Winner of one of his 7 starts and currently rated 94. Finished unplaced, beaten 10 ¾ lengths, to Max Vega when last seen out in the Group 3 Zetland Stakes at Newmarket (1m 2f) last October

Trainer says

He will be having his first run of the year in the King George V Handicap and he is a half-brother to Sir Ron Priestley and if he can make the same improvement from two to three that his brother did then he could still be feasibly handicapped.

Form profile

No wins from 3 starts and currently rated 84. Came closest to victory when runner-up, beaten a head, to Shandoz at Wolverhampton (1m 1/2f) in September.

Trainer says

He is down the bottom of the weights and could also go for the King George V Handicap. I always liked him and as a two-year-old he didn’t manage to win in his three starts but he did show promise and he will relish the step up to a mile and a half.

Form profile

Winner of two of her 6 starts and currently rated 99. Finished third, beaten a length and a quarter, to Miss Yoda in the Listed Oaks Trial at Lingfield (1m 3 1/2f) this month.

Trainer says

She will run in the Ribblesdale Stakes. She ran a very promising race in the Lingfield Oaks Trial, and we were happy with that. She got a little lost down the hill and maybe as if she was going to drop away in the straight, but she finished really strong. It doesn’t look deepest of races in all honesty and the first five from Lingfield are all in again. You would be worried about Frankly Darling of John Gosden’s she looked very impressive the other day but on the whole, it doesn’t look a deep race. If she runs the same race as she did at Lingfield it could see her being competitive.

Form profile

Made a winning debut at Kempton (5f) this month when scoring by a short head from Science.

Trainer says

He will run in the Coventry and my gut feeling is that he is sharper than Thunder Of Niagara who will be suited by seven furlongs in time. He has a bit more speed and should give a good account.

Form profile

Winner on his debut at Newmarket (5f) this month when scoring by three quarters of a length from Get It.

Trainer says

Our talking horse of the week runs in the Norfolk Stakes on Friday and that is Eye Of Heaven. He has always been a colt that has stood out at home and has a lot of quality and class. His work had been impressive at home and the fact that we booked Frankie first time out let everyone know our intentions and what we thought about him from the outset. I thought he was very impressive at Newmarket even though he didn’t win by a long way. He was stuck out on the wing towards the middle of the course and he was very professional. He is a horse who has a huge amount of speed and about a month or six weeks ago he was just getting a bit keen and a lad called Andy Bacon rides him every day and he is a very relaxed horse now. As you saw at Newmarket he was never keen or fighting Frankie and you can just put him where you want in a race. It isn’t often you go to Royal Ascot and think you would be disappointed if you finished second but with this horse, I think we will be disappointed if we finish second.

Form profile

Finished runner-up, beaten half a length, to Devious Company at Haydock (7f) this month.

Trainer says

He will definitely run in the Chesham. He finished second at Haydock first time out and for all we were frustrated to get beat I thought he ran a lovely race and confirmed what he had been showing at home. He is a very nice horse and unfortunately the Chesham is no longer confined to staying type horses. You can get in now with more speedily bred horses and now the sire or the dam have had to have won over a mile and a quarter. He is by Golden Horn which is a real middle-distance pedigree and there may be some sharper types.

Form profile

Winner of her only start to date when beating Mamba Wamba half a length at Newcastle (5f).

Trainer says

She will be one of our runners in the Queen Mary – both her and Sands of Time were very impressive first time out and showed plenty of speed. I am sure the Queen Mary will be tough and there will be plenty of horses that will improve for their first runs, but they must both go there with lives chances.

Form profile

Scored by five lengths from Spark Fury at Lingfield (5f) this month.

Trainer says

She won impressively at Lingfield and will run in the Queen Mary like Pelekai she has bags of speed and deserves to take her chance.

Form profile

Made a winning debut at Newcastle (6f) in June when scoring by a length and three quarters from Rebel At Dawn.

Trainer says

He and Army Of India will go for the Coventry and he impressed us when winning at Newcastle. He should be suited by seven furlongs in time.