Royal Ascot 2018: There will be no stopping the flying filly Lady Aurelia

Royal Ascot is very much an international meeting nowadays and Lady Aurelia, a flying filly from America who has lit up the meeting for the past two years, can top the bill on the first day on Tuesday by winning the King’s Stand Stakes for a second time.

Only three horses have won the Group One sprint twice since the Second World War, but Lady Aurelia, who cruised home in last year’s renewal after being a runaway winner of the Queen Mary Stakes 12 months earlier, has the qualities required to emulate the rapid trio of Elbio, Equiano and Sole Power.

Wesley Ward became the first US-based trainer to saddle a winner at Royal Ascot when Strike The Tiger won at 33/1 in 2009. The 50-year-old has since enjoyed eight more triumphs and has been typically bullish about Lady Aurelia’s recent workouts before the £500,000 feature, vowing that “she’s ready to run big”.

Those looking to oppose the general 5/2 chance will point to the fact that she has failed to replicate her King’s Stand form in three subsequent races, but Ward’s whole year revolves around the Royal meeting, so expect her to be at her peak.

The home defence is led by Battaash, who also has speed to burn. However, he is an edgy character who can boil over before the start and, as such, comes with a wealth warning.

Overall, there will be eight Group One contests at the meeting and all form part of the 35-race QIPCO British Champions Series. In essence, it means almost a quarter of the top races for older horses in the entire year are squeezed into five days dripping with quality.

Saeed Bin Suroor has saddled the winner of the opening Queen Anne Stakes a record seven times and his Benbatl, who looked better than ever in Dubai earlier this year, can enhance his record.

Romanised was a good winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas and is fancied to follow up in the St James’s Palace Stakes, while it will be a surprise if Aidan O’Brien does not add to his haul of 61 Royal Ascot winners before the day is out. Sergei Prokofiev may represent his best chance on day one in the Coventry Stakes.

Willie Mullins has landed the Ascot Stakes twice in the past three years and he has five candidates this time, with the pick looking the stamina-blessed mare Meri Devie. Kidmenever gets the nod in the closing Wolferton Stakes.

Tomorrow’s tips: 2.30 Benbatl (nb); 3.05 Sergei Prokofiev; 3.40 Lady Aurelia (nap); 4.20 Romanised; 5.00 Meri Devie; 5.35 Kidmenever