Royal Ascot 2019: Aidan O'Brien begins with two wins as favourites have day to forget
Re-live the action from the first day at Royal Ascot
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Hitting the ground running has not quite been the style of Aidan O'Brien at Royal Ascot in recent seasons - but an opening-day double at this year's meeting swiftly changed such an approach.
Having failed to saddle a winner on the first day of the meeting for the past two seasons, there might have been a few willing to discount runners saddled by the master Ballydoyle trainer on Tuesday, given his recent trend of starting the event slowly and finishing with a flourish.
However, those willing to ignore the statistics and follow the man that has dominated proceedings on the biggest stages in Britain were well rewarded, to set what the nine-times leading trainer at Ascot will be hoping is a theme that will continue throughout the rest of the meeting.
After watching Arizona and Ryan Moore leap to the head of the market for next year's 2000 Guineas with victory in the Coventry Stakes, O'Brien pulled off what looked a real masterstroke when dropping Derby also-ran Circus Maximus back to a mile to capture the St James's Palace Stakes.
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Welcome
Hello and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Royal Ascot 2019!
Today the curtain rises on the famous flat racing festival that catches the eye around the world for it's colour off the course as well as the racing.
The going
Straight Course: Good
Round Course: Good, Good to Soft in places
The racecourse has reported that it was dry overnight and it experienced minimal rain over the weekend.
Stalls
Straight Course: Centre.
Round Course: Inside
The running rail on the round course is positioned three yards out from approximately nine furlongs out to the home straight. This rail will remain in place until Thursday.
The carriages!
Forget the racing, it's the all-important carriage list.
1st Carriage
The Queen
The King of the Netherlands
The Queen of the Netherlands
The Duke of York
2nd Carriage
The Prince of Wales
The Duchess of Cornwall
The Duke of Cambridge
The Duchess of Cambridge
3rd Carriage
The Princess Royal
The Lord de Mauley
The Earl of Wessex
The Countess of Wessex
4th Carriage
Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy
The Rt. Hon. Edward Young
Princess Beatrice of York
Princess Eugenie of York
Lester Piggott statue unveiled
Legendary jockey Lester Piggot had a statue unveiled at Ascot this morning in his honour.
Epsom Downs was the first racecourse to reveal one of nine life-size Lester Piggott statues on Derby Day earlier this month and the statues will be located at courses around the country, sculpted by William Newton.
Piggott recorded a record 116 victories at Royal Ascot. His first win came at the meeting in the 1952 Wokingham aboard the Walter Nightingall-trained Malka's Boy. "The Longfellow" won the Gold Cup a record 11 times, which included three successive victories aboard Sagaro (1975, 1976, 1977).
Speaking at the unveiling, Piggott said: "It is a fantastic statue and it has a great likeness to me - William has done a very good job with it.
"I have enjoyed some great days at Royal Ascot. Everybody looked forward to this meeting. To win the Gold Cup once is special and I was very lucky to win the race on 10 occasions.
"I rode some brilliant horses in the race including Sagaro, but probably the best was a filly called Gladness. It has been a very lucky course for me."
Betting guide
Here's a look at who we fancy to deliver on fay one - pay close attention to Imprimis in the King's Stand Stakes.
Travel
If you are planning to go to Ascot this week and are worries by the trains...you can travel by air!
Highflyers can arrive at Ascot by helicopter with Fresh Air. Ascot's own website advertises shuttle helicopter as a "convenient and cost-effective solution to complete your Royal Ascot experience", with services operated throughout the day from Fair Oaks, Surrey and White Waltham. It costs £225 one way per person or £450 return.
The pricier option is the chartered helicopter, starting from approximately £4,000. For more information, head to www.freshair-ascot.com. (Racing Post)
Stoute hopefull over Mustashry
Sir Michael Stoute admits he is "hopeful" about the chances of Mustashry securing a second Group One win in today's first race, the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Mustashry, kept in training as a six-year-old, finally landed a first top-level win last time out in the Lockinge, with several who finished behind him at Newbury taking him on again.
"I was thrilled with him in the Lockinge and his preparations have gone fine," said Stoute.
"He is impervious to ground conditions which is very handy, and we are hopeful."
Owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's racing manager Angus Gold added: "It surprised me how easily he won the Lockinge.
"He's had so many niggling problems down the years. Some don't come back from that mentally, but he's got the right attitude. He's a fine, big horse and some of those (problems) might have been down to immaturity.
"Sir Michael's team weren't as surprised as I was and they see him every day. If he runs to that level again he's the one to beat, but it was Laurens' first run and there are other good horses in there."
The battle of Ascot
It's the Game Of Thrones/Royal Ascot collaboration you didn't know you needed in your life.
Via QIPCO British Champions Series
Congratulations if you had cornflower blue on your 'Queen's dress colour' sweepstake
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