Diamond Jubilee looks wide open

There have been plenty of big races with short-priced favorites this week at Royal Ascot. Saturday’s feature, the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee over a straight six furlongs, is not one of them.

As of Thursday, early fixedodds betting on the Diamond Jubilee had none of the 14 final entrants lower than 7-2. That price was on offer for Starman, a lightly raced 4-year-old with four wins from five starts, his record’s only blemish a failed attempt to handle a very soft Ascot course last fall in the British Champions Sprint Stakes.

Starman, trained by Ed Walker and with Oisin Murphy named to ride, has raced only at Saturday’s six-furlong trip. He made his 2021 debut over good ground at York and won the Group 2 Clipper Logistics Stakes.

The other two shortest prices in Thursday betting have longer track records: Nahaar has won half his 12 starts while Dream of Dreams is an eight-time winner from 30 outings. Seven-year-old Dream of Dreams, trained by Michael Stoute, is a Diamond Jubilee veteran, beaten a head last summer by Hello Youmzain and handed a tough defeat by the same margin in the 2019 renewal by the excellent Blue Point. Nahaar was a handicap horse during 2020 but ran right behind Starman at York last month. Capable runners like Glen Shiel will be hoping for late-week rain to soften the Ascot going.

The Diamond Jubilee, post time 11:20 a.m. Eastern, is the fourth race on a card that starts at 9:30, with live video and wagering available at DRFBets. com.

The supporting feature is the Group 2 Hardwicke over about 1 1/2 miles, which drew a 15-horse field and had Broome at the head of the betting market Thursday. Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Broome was defeated by a generally inferior foe last out in the Tattersalls Gold Cup over a heavy course he didn’t love, but this exposed 5-year-old has been racing at shorter distances and seems like a shaky favorite in a deep field. O’Brien also runs Japan, Mogul, and Tiger Moth, all of whom have their limitations. Four-year-old Hukum, meanwhile, has just seven starts on his résumé and won well in a 1 1/2-mile handicap during the 2020 Royal Ascot meeting. Highest Ground and Logician also merit consideration at longer prices.

Subjectivist the new boss

Odds-on favorite Stradivarius was seeking his fourth straight win in the Group 1 Gold Cup on Thursday at Royal Ascot, but he was no match for runaway winner Subjectivist, a 4-year-old upstart who might be turning into the top staying horse in Europe.

Subjectivist pressed the pace for much of the 2 1/2-mile Gold Cup before jockey Joe Fanning went on with his mount a good three furlongs from the finish. Subjectivist quickly opened a big lead, and while it looked briefly like Fanning might have asked his mount too soon, Subjectivist kept finding more and never was threatened in an impressive five-length victory.

Stradivarius, racing from the tail of the field, got stuck in traffic before hitting the homestretch but had time to extricate himself and perform better than he did. Instead, he flattened out late and could only finish fourth as Princess Zoe was second and Spanish Mission third.

Subjectivist, by Teofilo out of Reckoning, by Danehill Dancer, only truly revealed his staying power last fall, when he won the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak at Longchamp, seeing out the 15 1/2-furlong trip on heavy ground. In his lone previous race this year, he traveled to Dubai and won the two-mile Gold Cup by more than five lengths.

His 4.20.28 clocking ranks among the fastest times in this historic race. Subjectivist, trained by Mark Johnston, paid $13.90 in North American wagering.