Many serious punters look for solid trends when considering ante-post investments in major races, and at 2010 Royal Ascot there will be few stronger statistics than the ones favouring Aidan O’Brien’s likely runners in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes, writes Elliot Slater.
 
The one mile contest, restricted to three-year-old colts, has been a very happy hunting ground for the Ballydoyle maestro and has seen him strike an astonishing six times in the last 10 renewals with his three most recent winners being Excellent Art, Henrythenavigator, and last year Mastercraftsman.
 
O’Brien and his team clearly place tremendous importance in winning the race as it adds significant stud value to the winner, a particularly relevant detail in their case as not only is Ballydoyle a major training centre, but their nearby Coolmore Stud is where many of the O’Brien trained champions got to take up stallion duties in what is a finely tuned multi-million pound business operation.
 
The St James’s Palace Stakes, the highlight on the opening day of the five-day Royal Ascot races, is the logical next step for horses who have performed well in the English, Irish or the French 2000 Guineas. The race is run on the round mile and there is a gradual incline all the way to the line from the three furlong marker just before the turn for home.
 
In 2010 O’Brien looks to already have a number of likely Royal Ascot 2010 Betting candidates for the race including Beethoven, Fencing Master and Steinbeck, first, second and fourth in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket at the end of the 2009 season. Of the three it could be Steinbeck who is open to the most improvement as a three-year-old, but with Ballydoyle having such amazing strength in depth, there could yet be an unheralded candidate to stake his claim for Royal Ascot glory.