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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Up next
The races come thick and fast once they get underway and up next is the 4:20 St James's Palace Stakes
Market leaders Too Darn Hot and Phoenix of Spain will take some stopping in one of the day’s stand-out races. Too Darn Hot ended 2018 as one of the best two-year-olds after getting the better of Phoenix of Spain, but was beaten by the Charles Hill-trained rival.
King of Comedy is another entry to keep a close eye on, however Frankie Dettori choosing to ride Too Darn Hot instead tells you all you need to know about where he thinks this race is going.
St James’ Palace Stakes (Group 1)
Too Darn Hot – 9/4
Phoenix of Spain – 5/2
King of Comedy – 6/1
Skardu – 8/1
Shaman – 14/1
Circus Maximus – 16/1
Fox Champion – 33/1
Royal Marine – 40/1
Bell Rock – 80/1
Van Beethoven – 100/1
The Irish Rover – 200/1
Win 28% more at Royal Ascot by placing bets on Oddschecker
Too Darn Hot profile
Trainer, John Gosden: "Too Darn Hot has probably been the worst managed horse this year, by me and the manager.
"He missed the Guineas, which was tragedy because that would have been a perfect race. He then had to walk for two weeks before going for the Dante, when he was quite frankly about 80 per cent fit.
"Then, as we seemed to be missing the Classics, we went over to Ireland nine days later. Due to the rules, he had to have a flu vaccination - he was perfectly eligible to race in the UK but not in Ireland as they changed the rules so had to have a flu vaccination on the Saturday after the Dante before the Irish 2,000 Guineas the following Saturday.
"He ran really well in Ireland and finished second, but we all ask horses to do impossible things and I think it would have been much better if we had targeted the Irish Guineas from the outset. From the horse's point of view, that has not been very clever.
"Having said that, Too Darn Hot is coming into the St James's Palace Stakes in good form and I hope that he can put in a quality performance as he certainly has not had the opportunity to do that so far this season with his more than interrupted preparation through the spring.
"I think I am the happiest I have been with him so far this season. Last year went so smoothly it was almost ridiculous, a maiden followed by a Group Three, a Group Two and a Group One. This year has been quite the opposite.
"The good news is that we are only halfway through the season, so there is still a lot to look forward to."
Jockey, Frankie Dettori: "Hopefully Ascot on Tuesday we will see the old Too Darn Hot and I feel he still has got more to give and we have not seen the real him yet. He looks well and he came out of the Irish race really well," said the Italian.
They're hovering around the stalls. It's taking a while to sort things out down there.
Andrew Lloyd-Webber, who owns Too Darn Hot, watches on.
They're off!
Fox Champion moves over from the wide side.
Phoenix Of Spain and Too Darn Hot travel well.
It's a slow pace this.
What a race and what a finish. Circus Maximus held off Too Darn Hot's long challenge as they approaches the finish line and holds him off the whole way. That is a sensational training performance from Aidan O'Brien, who wins his eighth St James's Palace Stakes. King Of Comedy pips Too Darn Hot for second.
'He had to win'
Winning jockey Ryan Moore: "Fair play to Aidan, he phoned me up Monday and told me he was in. He had to win. He knew this horse had a bit of talent."
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