Established in 1868 and originally known as the Cork and Orrery Stakes, the race was upgraded to Group 1 status and renamed to mark The Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, before taking on its latest title of the Diamond Jubilee Stakes in 2012.

It is open to three-year-olds or older horses and is run over 6 furlongs.

  • Age:  All 10 of the last 10 winners were aged 3-5.
  • Price: 3 of the last 10 winners were favourites/joint favourites, 5/10 winners were in the top 3 in the betting. 5 of the last 10 winners returned a double-figure price.
  • Last Run: 2/10 winners won last time out, 10/10 winners ran in the last 50 days or less.

 

Overseas Winners

Ireland (17) The latest being :Kearney (1980), Committed (1984), Big Shuffle (1987), College Chapel (1993), Starspangledbanner (2010), Slade Power (2014).

Australia (2) – Choisir (2003), Black Caviar (2012).

Hong Kong (1) – Cape Of Good Hope (2005).

USA (1) – Undrafted (2015).

 

Runner-by-Runner Guide:

Bound For Nowhere

American raider Bound For Nowhere was fourth in last year's Commonwealth Cup and trainer Wesley Ward is excited about his prospects in this race.

The four-year-old failed to figure in the Prix Maurice De Gheest in France on his final outing of 2017, but has made a promising start to his latest campaign in the States winning both his starts.

 

City Light

City Light put in some sterling runner-up efforts in last year’s G3 Prix Texanita, Listed Prix Marchand d’Or and Listed Prix Luthier, and opened this season by scoring on the Chantilly Polytrack, at Lingfield’s A.W Championships and most recently on the turf at ParisLongchamp.

The French colt should not be underestimated.

 

D’bai

D’Bai drops back in trip for a crack at the this race after he came out on top in a three-way finish to the John of Gaunt Stakes at Haydock.

The four-year-old is trained by the recent Derby winning trainer, Charlie Appleby.

 

Harry Angel

Clive Cox's star performer was narrowly beaten by Caravaggio in the Commonwealth Cup at last year's meeting, but went on to win two further Group One events in the July Cup at Newmarket and the Sprint Cup at Haydock.

Harry Angel made an impressive reappearance in last month's Duke of York Stakes, winning it rather cosily that day.

Despite Harry Angel suffering four defeats on his four starts at Ascot the son of Dark Angel is a firm favourite with punters for this.

 

Intelligence Cross

Aidan O’Brien’s runner will probably be out to make the running for his more fancied stablemate Merchant Navy.

 

Librisa Breeze

The six-year-old, owned by Brighton and Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom, failed to feature on his seasonal return when finishing down the field in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan in March.

He did however win last year’s British Champions Sprint and gave his trainer Dean Ivory his first Group One success.

 

Merchant Navy

Australian sprinter Merchant Navy booked his ticket into this race with victory in the Group Two Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh.

Now with Aidan O’Brien, Merchant Navy was trained by Ciaron Maher and Aaron Purcell and won five of his eight Australian starts, including the Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes.

He ran third in the Newmarket Handicap behind Redkirk Warrior, whom he meets again on the other side of the world.

 

Projection

The Roger Charlton five-year-old is trained by Roger Charlton and is owned by The Royal Ascot Racing Club who will be hoping for a special day.

A close third on his last run behind the Tin Man puts him in with a decent each-way chance.

 

Redkirk Warrior

Redkirk Warrior lining up in the Diamond Jubilee sets up an exciting rematch with star Aussie three-year-old Merchant Navy who headed to Ireland to be trained by Aidan O’Brien after finishing third behind Redkirk Warrior in the Newmarket Handicap (Australia).

He is trained in a partnership by father and son David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig and will be ridden on Saturday by the man of the moment, Frankie Dettori.

 

Sir Dancealot

Trained by David Elsworth, the four-year-old was gelded in the off-season, and has looked better than ever in both starts so far this year, finishing a good third to Harry Angel in the Duke of York Stakes before getting the better of Kimberella up the hill at Hamilton last time out.

As a juvenile, Sir Dancealot’s principal weapon was his speed and his best performance was when he pounced late in the 6f Listed Rockingham Stakes at York.

33/1 appears too big for a horse that previously run Harry Angel close.

 

Spirit Of Valor

Finished second to his stablemate and rival Merchant Navy in the Greenlands Stakes last time out and would have some kind of chance if reproducing something like that run here.

Very difficult to assess whether he will be running on merit or keeping Merchant Navy’s principal rivals occupied.

 

The Tin Man

The James Fanshawe-trained The Tin Man has Group One-winning Ascot form and tends to be at his best on this Berkshire track. He is the defending champion after scoring by a neck in a nineteen runner field last year.

The six-year-old, owned by Pegasus Stables, made a winning return to action at Windsor when he took their feature Monday evening race, the Weatherbys Hamilton Leisure Stakes.

Today’s rivals D’bai and Projection filled the second and third spots on that occasion.

888sport suggests: City Light e/w

 

*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*

Steven is a sports and horse racing enthusiast and is a member of the Horseracing Writers and Photographers Association (HWPA) in the United Kingdom.

He is a regular visitor to Paris Longchamp for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and a lifelong fan of the Aintree Grand National, a subject he writes about 52 weeks of the year. Last year he reached the impressive milestone of attending the last 30 renewals of the Grand National.