Oisin Murphy, who was the top jockey at Royal Ascot for the first time last season, will be on the other side of the running rail when the most prestigious Flat meeting of the season opens on Tuesday, but even in his absence the race to claim the prize for the leading rider looks unusually open this year.
The last Royal meeting with a full crowd in attendance, in 2019, had six races each day but the post‑Covid schedule is up to seven, races over the five days, so this year’s top jockey is likely to need at least the five winners Murphy partnered in 2021 to claim the prize.
Lingfield Park 1.00 Bird For Life 1.30 Mai Alward 2.00 Baileys Accolade 2.30 Bara Lacha 3.00 Level Up 3.30 Big Meeting 4.00 Seal Of Solomon 4.30 Janus
Carlisle 1.45 Miss Brazen 2.15 Calm Skies 2.45 Peachey Carnehan 3.15 Bobby Shaftoe (nb) 3.45 Eight Of Diamonds 4.15 Iolani 4.50 Latenightmistake 5.20 Little Jo
Nottingham 5.15 Midnight Flame 5.50 Gidwa 6.20 Grandfather Tom 6.50 Hart Fell 7.20 Belisa De Vega 7.50 Pride Of Hawridge 8.20 George Bancroft
Windsor 5.40 Raducanu 6.10 Twelfth Knight 6.40 Cairn Gorm (nap) 7.10 Darvel 7.40 Tathbeet 8.10 In Paradise
Ryan Moore (13-8)
Aidan O’Brien’s No 1 was the Royal meeting’s leading rider eight times in nine seasons from 2010, most memorably with nine winners, a record since the second world war, in 2015. As ever, O’Brien will supply the bulk of his fancied rides, including the up-and-coming young stayer Kyprios in Thursday’s Gold Cup, while a strong team of juveniles is headed by the unbeaten Blackbeard in the Coventry Stakes on Tuesday and Alfred Munnings, the hot favourite for the Chesham on the final afternoon. This year, though, the resurgent Michael Stoute yard will also provide some useful back-up, most notably as Bay Bridge, hugely impressive in last month’s Brigadier Gerard, sets off at around 5-4 to beat the Japanese star Shahryar in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes on Wednesday.
William Buick (3-1
The clear leader in the race for the 2022 Flat jockeys’ championship has never won the prize at Royal Ascot and he will probably need to beat his previous best total of four wins in 2017 to break his duck. He can look forward to his best book on paper with two real bankers in Coroebus, the 2,000 Guineas winner, at odds-on for Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes, and Hurricane Lane, last year’s Irish Derby and Leger winner, due to kick off his four-year-old season in the Hardwicke on Saturday. Charlie Appleby’s squad of juveniles includes Noble Style, a big contender for the Coventry, and Buick’s hot current form should ensure he has close to a full book over the week.
Frankie Dettori (7-2)
The most successful current rider at the meeting with 76 winners is also second in the all-time list behind Lester Piggott, who rode an astonishing 116 in an era when there were 24 races over four days. Dettori is on the hunt for an eighth top-jockey award at the meeting and while he has had just 36 rides (and seven winners) since the start of May this is the week when he is all but guaranteed to roar into life. His big chances include the evergreen Stradivarius in the Gold Cup and the Queen’s Reach For The Moon in the Hampton Court on the same afternoon, while Emily Upjohn, edged out in the Oaks, will be a short price if she lines up for the Ribblesdale. A setback, though, is Wesley Ward’s decision to book Irad Ortiz Jr for his five-strong team.
Jim Crowley (10-1)
Shadwell Stud’s retained rider had a dream meeting in 2020 with six winners but still could not get his hands on the top rider’s prize for the first time, finishing behind Dettori on countback after the Italian had a treble on the final day. Crowley should have a strong start again thanks to the unbeaten miler Baaeed, the banker of the week in the opening Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday, while Mostahdaf (Wolferton Stakes) and Israr (King George V Handicap) will also go to post with decent chances and the famous blue and white silks will keep him busy throughout the week.
James Doyle
(16-1)
Should arrive in confident mood after winning both Guineas at Newmarket and in addition to Cachet, the 1,000 Guineas winner, in Friday’s Coronation, Doyle can expect to ride several live second-strings from the Appleby yard. He has “only” 17 Royal Ascot wins since getting off the mark in 2013 and so will need to up his strike-rate significantly, but has at least shown a tendency to be feast-or-famine at this meeting in the past, most memorably when adding the next two races after his debut win nine years ago.
Tom Marquand (16-1)
Has first call on most runners from the William Haggas stable, which puts Marquand in with an outside shout, and Bashkirova (Duke Of Cambridge Stakes), Addeybb (Wolferton Stakes) and Sacred (Platinum Jubilee) are among his possible contenders at single‑figure odds.
Hollie Doyle (20-1)
Trueshan, last year’s Goodwood Cup winner, is Doyle’s headline engagement in Thursday’s Gold Cup, but she will surely need to take far more rides than she has had previously (14 and 17 in the past two seasons) and also get lucky along the way to beat Moore, Dettori and Buick.
An interest in the race for the riders’ title at Royal Ascot can make a single bet last all week and while Moore and Dettori have 15 previous prizes between them, this could be the year when Buick makes his mark. He has the right combination of favourites, potentially top-class juveniles and will be fighting off the offers in any races where Appleby does not have a runner, so 3-1 looks like a fair price for Buick to take the prize for the first time.
