Royal Ascot 2026, day three: Scandinavia wins Gold Cup as O’Brien reaches Ascot century – as it happened

Aidan O’Brien was the story today as he trained his 100th winner at Royal Ascot. But it could be that his son Joseph will also dominate the next generation. Tom Segal at the Racing Post had this to say about O’Brien Jr, who sent out another winner at the meeting today, earlier this month: “It may be only the start of June but if a trainer with the surname O’Brien isn’t trainer of the year then something is seriously wrong.

The one I have in mind isn’t called Aidan. Being the son of a legend is never easy but Joseph O’Brien is making an extremely good fist of it and is well on the way to joining his father in the racing Hall of Fame. “Just look at what he’s achieved in the last six months.

He went within a nostril of back-to-back King George VI Chase victories at Kempton with Banbridge, he won the Stayers’ Hurdle with the 11-year-old Home By The Lee and might have landed the Grand National too, if Jordans had been ridden with more restraint. Things went to another level at Epsom last weekend, when Thundering On was a fantastic winner of the Oaks and cheap purchase James J Braddock ran third in the Derby. “No doubt being Aidan’s son has opened doors that would be locked to others but Joseph has stepped through them and battered down a few more to boot.

” So that’s it for another Gold Cup day. I’m off to the races tomorrow so you’ll be in the capable hands of Niall McVeigh. I’ll be back in the saddle on Saturday.

10 BUCKINGHAM PALACE STAKES HANDICAP preview The money is all for runners in high-numbered stalls in the finale, and that’s hardly surprising given the way that races on the straight course have been unfolding this week. Jack Channon’s Mezcala, in stall 30, is currently a narrow favourite and remains feasibly handicapped dropping back to seven furlongs from a mile, while Cosi Bello (26) was a bit better than his narrow winning margin might imply at Haydock last time and also has form in a big field on this course. Elerak, highest of all in 31, is also attracting support to give Billy Loughnane another winner at the meeting, while Blue Brother, unraced since suffering all manner of bad luck when fancied for the Hunt Cup here last summer, is another fascinating contender from stall 28.

35 HAMPTON COURT STAKES And they’re off … with Oxagon taking the lead in the early stages … Morshdi takes over as they move on to the far side of the track … Mountain Cat is now in second as they turn into the home straight … Endorsement comes with a challenge … Generic gets past him in the closing stages and wins! 35 HAMPTON COURT STAKES preview Not the loftiest event on the Royal Ascot schedule by any means, but still an interesting contest for three-year-olds that are just below the top rung, for the moment at least, and it occasionally highlights a colt on the way to better things. Endorsement, the Aidan O’Brien-trained favourite, was still engaged in the Derby until quite late in the day, and drops back to 10 furlongs having skated up in a Listed race over a mile-and-a-half just a fortnight ago.

Maho Bay too was seen as a possible for a run in the Derby until blotting his copy book by finishing fourth behind Maltese Cross in the Lingfield Derby Trial, but the winner there went on to finish second at Epsom and so the form may well be better than it seems. The list of Derby trial disappointments also includes Morshdi, fifth in the Dante, while Oxagon, the Craven Stakes winner in April, has failed to build on that in two runs since, though the latest was admittedly a Classic as he finished 12th of 16 in the French Derby at Chantilly. Generic, meanwhile, was seven lengths behind Constitution River – surely the best three-year-old colt seen out this year – in the Dee Stakes at Chester, having only started his racing career in March, and will also be bang there on that form with only marginal improvement.

Timeform top-rated: Endorsement. 50 BRITANNIA STAKES And they’re off … and the early leaders is Winding Stream on the nearside … on the farside We’re Goosers is very prominent … New Monarch is also there … the nearside have it and Moonfall wins the race with those drawn in the high numbers on the nearside totally dominant. O’Brien nets century of Royal Ascot winners Aidan O’Brien brought up his 100th career winner at Royal Ascot in the meeting’s feature race, as Scandinavia got up in the final strides to win a thrilling renewal of the Gold Cup.

It appeared for much of the final furlong that last year’s winner Trawlerman – who wore ski goggles in the paddock to protect his sensitive eyes from the sun – was going to hold off his younger rival. However, having not had a run so far this season, the last 50 yards of the stamina-sapping two and a half miles caught up with Trawlerman, with last season’s St Leger winner Scandinavia (11-8 favourite) wearing him down under Ryan Moore to win right on the line. It was certainly not a result the bookmakers were cheering, with Star Sports reporting a £120,000 win bet on O’Brien’s four-year-old at odds of 5-2.

50 BRITANNIA STAKES preview This straight-mile handicap for three-year-olds is, for me at least, the toughest Royal Ascot test of them all from a betting point of view – looking down the list of previous winners, I’m fairly sure that Perotto, in 2021, is the only winner I’ve had this century – and this year’s renewal looks as competitive as always. It looks as though I’ve managed to find the favourite, though, as David Marnane’s Jamestown has attracted plenty of support this morning, and has both the high draw and the run style that you need to be looking for on the straight course this week. A list of dangerous opponents is effectively everything else – even the 80-1 shot Winding Stream is within 7lb of the top-rated horse on Timeform’s numbers and was racing in Group company last time – but We’re Goosers is sure to be popular as a result of his nine-and-a-half length win last time, and so too Organise, from the John & Thady Gosden yard, who was touched off in a well-run race last time and sports first-time cheekpieces today.

Moonfall, an eye-catcher at Chester in May, and Exclusive Code, the winner of a big-field maiden at Newbury, are also on the short-list, but frankly, your guess is as good as mine. Timeform top-rated: We’re Goosers. 15 GOLD CUP And they’re off … and the early leader is Trawlerman (without the goggles) ….

Al Riffa is at the back … Scandinavia is second so the first and second favourites are one-two in the field with a full circuit to go … Caballo De Mar has now moved into second spot … Furthur moves up to third … Caballo De Mar is under pressure … but is staying on and challenging Trawlerman into the straight … Scandinavia is challenging … and gets up near the line to win the Gold Cup … and that’s 100 Royal Ascot winners for Aidan O’Brien! Trawlerman in his goggles Trawlerman, last year’s winner of the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, is wearing an equine version of ski goggles in the paddock today and on the way to post before defending his stayers’ crown. Trainer John Gosden said the unusual step was necessary because Trawlerman “has a weird problem with his eyes in that he becomes very sensitive to light”.

He added: “He’s been going out and doing a lot of his work in ski goggles, which he’s going to be allowed to wear in the paddock and cantering down to the start. But they won’t let him race in them, understandably – for fear he thinks he’s on a slope or something! 15 GOLD CUP preview The staying division is currently missing a truly “public” horse like the three-time winner, Stradivarius, but Trawlerman, last year’s winner, will be a stern test for the posse of four-year-olds in this year’s Gold Cup field that could conceivably run up a sequence over the next few years if all goes well.

The list is headed by Aidan O’Brien’s Scandinavia, last year’s St Leger winner, who arrives in Berkshire looking for a sixth straight success, while Rahiebb and Carmers, second and fifth at Doncaster, are also looking to establish themselves as Cup horses with a win in the most prestigious staying event of them all. Other live runners include Al Riffa, last season’s Irish St Leger winner, for the Joseph O’Brien stable, and George Scott’s Caballo De Mar, a Group One winner over two miles in France last time out. My idea of the best bet in the race, though, is Carmers, on the basis that Trawlerman missed his intended prep race in May and may be slightly short of his best, while Paddy Twomey’s runner – who beat both Scandinavia and Rahiebb in the Queen’s Vase here last summer – has as much chance as either of his fellow four-year-olds of finding the necessary improvement stepping up to two-and-a-half miles.

40 RIBBLESDALE STAKES And they’re off … and Lady Roisia has UNSEATED her rider when coming out of the stalls … she’s out of the race … Venetia leads the way with the loose horse running in front of her … the leader is well clear on the turn for home … here comes the pack ... Johanna Walsh has the lead woth Gilded Prize and Earth Shot challenging and Earth Shot gets up late to make it. 40 RIBBLESDALE STAKES preview Sound the stat klaxon, it’s time for the one about Oaks runners in the Ribblesdale as Legacy Link attempts to win Ascot’s Group Two for three-year-old fillies having run in the Epsom Classic last time out.

A total of 33 fillies have lined up for this race after running in the Oaks since 2010 and just two have won, with the list of beaten runners including three favourites and seven more that set off at 5-1 or shorter. It is a big ask, in other words, and Legacy Link, the Epsom runner-up behind impressive winner Thundering On, will deserve huge credit if she can pull it off on what will be her third start in just over a month. Earth Shot and French challenger Gilded Prize are the likeliest opponents to give her something to think about, and while neither managed to win last time out, both look sure to blossom over this trip.

And there is a royal runner to look out for too, although Golden Orbit, a home-bred daughter of Sea The Stars who was a beaten favourite last time, is friendless in the market at 33-1 and the first-time blinkers will need to spark serious improvement. 05 KING GEORGE V STAKES HANDICAP And they’re off … in the early stages Blue Hercules takes the field along … Guildmaster is also prominent. … Golden Knight is last … Birgham Dub had a good spot … and they turn for home … Heyzoom tries ...

Enceladus comes up the inside to win for Ryan Moore and that man, Joseph O’Brien! Another winner for the son of Aidan – he’s had four already this week. 05 KING GEORGE V STAKES HANDICAP preview Plenty of future Group-race winners have won this handicap for three-year-olds in the past, and plenty have been beaten in it too, as it is a race that generally throws up a hard luck story or three.

All but a handful of the 19 runners have shown enough promise already to be credible winners if they continue to progress, with Charlie Appleby’s Into the Light,Heyzoom (Owen Burrows) and Tierra Del Toro (Ralph Beckett) probably the most obvious names to note, alongside Joseph O’Brien’s Enceladus, with Ryan Moore booked to ride in the absence of a runner from the trainer’s dad’s stable. O’Brien jnr is having a stormer of a meeting so far, and was tied with O’Brien snr on three winners at the top of the trainers’ table after day two, and Enceladus is one of four from the stable in this race, including Cannes, the favourite, who got off the mark at the third attempt at Leopardstown in May. Heyzoom posted an excellent winning time when successful over 10 furlongs at Newbury last time, while Into The Light has been narrowly beaten on his last two starts but was given a lot to do by William Buick over a two-furlong shorter trip last time.

Timeform top-rated: Heyzoom. SELECTION: HEYZOOM 1 Nola Soul (Seamie Heffernan) 11-2 2 On Just Terms (Dylan Browne McMonagle) 28-1 3 Aperoll (P J Dobbs) 12-1 14 ran Also: Non Runner: 1 No 1 Aix La Chapelle (11-4) was withdrawn not under orders. Rule 4 applies to all bets.

Deduct 25p in the £. 30 CHESHAM STAKES The favourite Aix La Chapelle is OUT of the race after rearing up and getting his leg stuck on the next stall … And they’re off … and Aperoll has the early lead … Sword Salute is prominent … South Dakota comes with a run … Nola Soul has gor the lead and fights them off for victory. Ombudsman tops with Timeform Ombudsman is the new highest-rated Flat horse in Europe with Timeform, following the successful defence of his Prince of Wales’s Stakes crown at Royal Ascot on Wednesday.

John and Thady Gosden’s son of Night Of Thunder powered clear of some high-class rivals, including Arc winner Daryz, whose rating drops 1lb to 131, to win by four lengths, earning a Timeform rating of 134 (from 130). A rise of 4lb means Ombudsman usurps French star Calandagan (133) at the head of Timeform’s top Flat horses in Europe ratings, while he rates just 3lb behind the highest-rated horse in the world, Hong Kong sprinter Ka Ying Rising (137). Timeform’s middle-distance handicapper, Rory King said: “It has been decided to award a rating of 134 to Ombudsman for his emphatic repeat win in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, the highest achieved by a horse in Europe since Baaeed.

“That puts him just ahead of his Champion Stakes conqueror Calandagan which required plenty of deliberation, but, on balance it’s a decision that looks justified given the time and closing sectionals of Wednesday’s success. “What’s more, Buick appeared to have learnt from that Champion Stakes and, in a race that panned out very similarly, bided his time for longer to deploy Ombudsman’s scintillating turn of foot to best effect. ” Hoofnote: Ka Ying Rising, the great Hong Kong sprinter, is rated 137 so still best in the world!

30 CHESHAM STAKES preview Aidan O’Brien’s first chance of the afternoon to get the one winner he needs to be the first trainer to a century at Royal Ascot comes via his colts Aix La Chapelle and second-string South Dakota, in a race that he has won five times in the last decade. Aix La Chapelle looked very rough around the edges on his debut at the Curragh just a fortnight ago but still ran out an easy winner and should find plenty for the experience. He is drawn in stall five, though, which is less than ideal on the evidence from the straight course over the first two days.

Another leading Irish-trained runner, Fozzy Stack’s Nola Soul, also overcame greenness to win on debut and could give the favourite plenty to think about, while George Scott’s Sea Venture found all the trouble going on her first start over six furlongs before showing a smart turn of foot to win with plenty to spare. As a daughter of the Derby winner, Sea The Stars, she looks certain to improve for the extra furlong today. Timeform top-rated: Aix La Chapelle SELECTION: SEA VENTURE Haslam in focus at Royal meeting The 86-year-old Nicky Haslam, who is presenting one of the prizes today at Royal Ascot, has led a full life.

He was (accurately) described as “legendary interior designer, writer, social arbiter, partygoer, magazine editor, cabaret singer, art director, and indefatigable man-about-town” in one profile this year. ” His latest list, a viral tongue-in-cheek guide to what the society interior designer deems terribly unchic, revealed at the end of 2025 includes: Technology & Hobbies: Air fryers, locking your car in your drive, playing Sudoku, and the Nobel Prize. ”, “Bums on seats,” saying “the countryside” (instead of just “the country”), and saying “The Speccie” for The Spectator.

People & Aesthetics: Stephen Fry, Antony Gormley sculptures, Beefeaters, and couture trainers. Etiquette: Clapping the chef in a restaurant, owning a Roberts radio, and referring to Stonehenge. So now you know.

I reckon he would be an excellent lunch companion at the meeting. He also looks very dapper on arrival at the track this morning. Gosden and O’Brien rivalry crackles in Gold Cup The rivalry between top trainers John Gosden and Aidan O’Brien is a long way short of a feud – “Aidan and I are big rivals”, Gosden said on Wednesday, “but we get on and we tease each other a lot.

” But it still makes for an interesting undercurrent as Gosden’s Trawlerman, bidding to become only the second eight-year-old winner since 1900, takes on the up-and-coming Scandinavia, last year’s St Leger winner, in the feature event of the week. ” The possibility that Ballydoyle was employing “team tactics” with its runners was also highlighted after Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes, when Christophe Soumillon, on the O’Brien second-string, Puerto Rico, picked up an eight-day ban for riding “in a manner to benefit” his stable companion and second-favourite, Gstaad. There is little chance of a dust-up over tactics in the Gold Cup, however, as Scandinavia is O’Brien’s only runner in the race and Trawlerman is likely to make his own running.

The regular to-and-fro between the two trainers, though, will add extra spice to the closing stages if Trawlerman and Scandinavia are duking it out in the final furlong. 10 BUCKINGHAM PALACE STAKES HANDICAP preview The money is all for runners in high-numbered stalls in the finale, and that’s hardly surprising given the way that races on the straight course have been unfolding this week. Jack Channon’s Mezcala, in stall 30, is currently a narrow favourite and remains feasibly handicapped dropping back to seven furlongs from a mile, while Cosi Bello (26) was a bit better than his narrow winning margin might imply at Haydock last time and also has form in a big field on this course.

Elerak, highest of all in 31, is also attracting support to give Billy Loughnane another winner at the meeting, while Blue Brother, unraced since suffering all manner of bad luck when fancied for the Hunt Cup here last summer, is another fascinating contender from stall 28. 35 HAMPTON COURT STAKES preview Not the loftiest event on the Royal Ascot schedule by any means, but still an interesting contest for three-year-olds that are just below the top rung, for the moment at least, and it occasionally highlights a colt on the way to better things. Endorsement, the Aidan O’Brien-trained favourite, was still engaged in the Derby until quite late in the day, and drops back to 10 furlongs having skated up in a Listed race over a mile-and-a-half just a fortnight ago.

Maho Bay too was seen as a possible for a run in the Derby until blotting his copy book by finishing fourth behind Maltese Cross in the Lingfield Derby Trial, but the winner there went on to finish second at Epsom and so the form may well be better than it seems. The list of Derby trial disappointments also includes Morshdi, fifth in the Dante, while Oxagon, the Craven Stakes winner in April, has failed to build on that in two runs since, though the latest was admittedly a Classic as he finished 12th of 16 in the French Derby at Chantilly. Generic, meanwhile, was seven lengths behind Constitution River – surely the best three-year-old colt seen out this year – in the Dee Stakes at Chester, having only started his racing career in March, and will also be bang there on that form with only marginal improvement.

Timeform top-rated: Endorsement. 50 BRITANNIA STAKES preview This straight-mile handicap for three-year-olds is, for me at least, the toughest Royal Ascot test of them all from a betting point of view – looking down the list of previous winners, I’m fairly sure that Perotto, in 2021, is the only winner I’ve had this century – and this year’s renewal looks as competitive as always. It looks as though I’ve managed to find the favourite, though, as David Marnane’s Jamestown has attracted plenty of support this morning, and has both the high draw and the run style that you need to be looking for on the straight course this week.

A list of dangerous opponents is effectively everything else – even the 80-1 shot Winding Stream is within 7lb of the top-rated horse on Timeform’s numbers and was racing in Group company last time – but We’re Goosers is sure to be popular as a result of his nine-and-a-half length win last time, and so too Organise, from the John & Thady Gosden yard, who was touched off in a well-run race last time and sports first-time cheekpieces today. Moonfall, an eye-catcher at Chester in May, and Exclusive Code, the winner of a big-field maiden at Newbury, are also on the short-list, but frankly, your guess is as good as mine. Timeform top-rated: We’re Goosers.

SELECTION: JAMESTOWN An inaugural “Royal Ascot colour of the year” has been introduced this year, and on Gold Cup day guests were encouraged to wear their best “bright tomato” shade as part of the dress code. This chap got the memo. 15 GOLD CUP preview The staying division is currently missing a truly “public” horse like the three-time winner, Stradivarius, but Trawlerman, last year’s winner, will be a stern test for the posse of four-year-olds in this year’s Gold Cup field that could conceivably run up a sequence over the next few years if all goes well.

The list is headed by Aidan O’Brien’s Scandinavia, last year’s St Leger winner, who arrives in Berkshire looking for a sixth straight success, while Rahiebb and Carmers, second and fifth at Doncaster, are also looking to establish themselves as Cup horses with a win in the most prestigious staying event of them all. Other live runners include Al Riffa, last season’s Irish St Leger winner, for the Joseph O’Brien stable, and George Scott’s Caballo De Mar, a Group One winner over two miles in France last time out. My idea of the best bet in the race, though, is Carmers, on the basis that Trawlerman missed his intended prep race in May and may be slightly short of his best, while Paddy Twomey’s runner – who beat both Scandinavia and Rahiebb in the Queen’s Vase here last summer – has as much chance as either of his fellow four-year-olds of finding the necessary improvement stepping up to two-and-a-half miles.

Timeform top-rated: Trawlerman SELECTION: CARMERS Royal Ascot Procession List 1st Carriage The King The Queen The Earl of Snowdon Ms Isabelle de la Bruyère 2nd Carriage The Princess Royal Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence The Duke of Edinburgh The Duchess of Edinburgh 3rd Carriage Princess Zahra Aga Khan HH Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah al-Thani Mrs Zara Tindall Mr Willie Mullins 4th Carriage Lord Cavendish Lady Cavendish Mr Stanley Tucci Ms Felicity Blunt Stanley Tucci is in the carriages today. An acclaimed actor, of course, he’s also well known for his cooking so perhaps he helped with luncheon at Windsor Castle to which the carriage guests are invited before their trip down the track. 30pm!

Andrew is innocent! I know you would miss the regular royal spot ahead of the Royal Procession list announcement at noon if we didn’t share some and today’s concerns Lady Victoria Hervey who has arrived at the races today. For those unawarer she’s a British socialite and former model who dated Prince Andrew (now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) briefly in 1999.

Throughout the fallout from his associations with Jeffrey Epstein, she has remained one of the prince’s most vocal defenders. In an interview with LBC in February, not only did she admit to being named in the Epstein files herself, but branded anyone who wasn’t as a “loser”. 40 RIBBLESDALE STAKES preview Sound the stat klaxon, it’s time for the one about Oaks runners in the Ribblesdale as Legacy Link attempts to win Ascot’s Group Two for three-year-old fillies having run in the Epsom Classic last time out.

A total of 33 fillies have lined up for this race after running in the Oaks since 2010 and just two have won, with the list of beaten runners including three favourites and seven more that set off at 5-1 or shorter. It is a big ask, in other words, and Legacy Link, the Epsom runner-up behind impressive winner Thundering On, will deserve huge credit if she can pull it off on what will be her third start in just over a month. Earth Shot and French challenger Gilded Prize are the likeliest opponents to give her something to think about, and while neither managed to win last time out, both look sure to blossom over this trip.

And there is a royal runner to look out for too, although Golden Orbit, a home-bred daughter of Sea The Stars who was a beaten favourite last time, is friendless in the market at 33-1 and the first-time blinkers will need to spark serious improvement. 05 KING GEORGE V STAKES HANDICAP preview Plenty of future Group-race winners have won this handicap for three-year-olds in the past, and plenty have been beaten in it too, as it is a race that generally throws up a hard luck story or three. All but a handful of the 19 runners have shown enough promise already to be credible winners if they continue to progress, with Charlie Appleby’s Into the Light,Heyzoom (Owen Burrows) and Tierra Del Toro (Ralph Beckett) probably the most obvious names to note, alongside Joseph O’Brien’s Enceladus, with Ryan Moore booked to ride in the absence of a runner from the trainer’s dad’s stable.

O’Brien jnr is having a stormer of a meeting so far, and was tied with O’Brien snr on three winners at the top of the trainers’ table after day two, and Enceladus is one of four from the stable in this race, including Cannes, the favourite, who got off the mark at the third attempt at Leopardstown in May. Heyzoom posted an excellent winning time when successful over 10 furlongs at Newbury last time, while Into The Light has been narrowly beaten on his last two starts but was given a lot to do by William Buick over a two-furlong shorter trip last time. Timeform top-rated: Heyzoom.

30 CHESHAM STAKES preview Aidan O’Brien’s first chance of the afternoon to get the one winner he needs to be the first trainer to a century at Royal Ascot comes via his colts Aix La Chapelle and second-string South Dakota, in a race that he has won five times in the last decade. Aix La Chapelle looked very rough around the edges on his debut at the Curragh just a fortnight ago but still ran out an easy winner and should find plenty for the experience. He is drawn in stall five, though, which is less than ideal on the evidence from the straight course over the first two days.

Another leading Irish-trained runner, Fozzy Stack’s Nola Soul, also overcame greenness to win on debut and could give the favourite plenty to think about, while George Scott’s Sea Venture found all the trouble going on her first start over six furlongs before showing a smart turn of foot to win with plenty to spare. As a daughter of the Derby winner, Sea The Stars, she looks certain to improve for the extra furlong today. Timeform top-rated: Aix La Chapelle SELECTION: SEA VENTURE Going to start putting up some previews of the day’s action from our racing correspondent and tipster Greg Wood, who is currently leading the national press challenge in the Racing Post.

Good morning. It was overcast this morning but no precipitation so the going for day three of Royal Ascot is: Good to Firm and there’s very little between the different sides of the track. 50pm Britannia Stakes: 16 Bobby McGee (vet’s certificate – temperature) Good morning from Ascot on the third morning of the Royal meeting 2026 – Gold Cup day – where Aidan O’Brien is poised to become the first trainer to saddle a century of winners at Flat racing’s showpiece event, having moved to 99 with a winner in the first race on Wednesday.

There are more races to aim at these days than there were in the era when the late Sir Henry Cecil racked up what was, at the time, a record 75 winners, and while the Sir Michael Stoute was active well into the five-day Ascot era and had saddled 82 by the time of his recent retirement, O’Brien’s record is still an astonishing achievement, even by the standards of the pre-eminent trainer of the last 25 years. 30. Scandinavia’s main Gold Cup rival, according to the betting at least, is last year’s winner, Trawlerman, and there is now less than a point between them in the betting.

50 could well turn out to be the most competitive event of the entire meeting – just two of the 30 runners are currently on offer at single-figure odds. 30 on what could be a historic day at Royal Ascot. One hundred is only a number, but it’s an impressive number all the same.