Two-year-old colt Fast Start aims to follow up a promising debut effort when he steps up to Listed level for the Windsor Castle Stakes over five furlongs on day two of Royal Ascot on Wednesday.

The son of Dubawi drops back a furlong after staying on to finish a clear second in a Haydock Park novice race on June 8. William Buick partners the homebred, whose dam Certify won the G1 Fillies’ Mile as a juvenile.

Saeed Bin Suroor said: “Fast Start ran well on his debut and he learned a lot from the race. He came out of it very well and looks to be in good form at the moment. Five furlongs will be a nice distance for him and we are looking forward to seeing how he gets on.”

Bright Melody (Charlie Appleby/William Buick) stayed on well to take third in the 10-furlong G3 Classic Trial at Kempton Park on June 3, and the Dubawi colt stretches out to a mile and a half for the King George V Handicap on the same card.

Charlie Appleby said: “Bright Melody has progressed with each of his two runs and we were very pleased with his latest start in the Classic Trial. The step up in trip is going to suit and we feel that he has a live chance.”

Wednesday’s handicap action also features the mile Royal Hunt Cup, which features three Godolphin contenders including G2 winner Dark Vision (Mark Johnston/William Buick,), who signalled a return to form with a head second in a Newcastle handicap on June 2.

Mark Johnston said: “Dark Vision ran a really nice race in defeat at Newcastle and was quite unlucky not to win, as he raced on the wrong part of the track and had to come from a long way back. That was probably his best performance in a year or so and he came out of if very well. He has the ability and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ran a good race.”

Dark Vision is joined in the Royal Hunt Cup by the John Gosden-trained duo of Beatboxer (James Doyle) and recent Newmarket Listed runner-up Lord Tennyson (Frankie Dettori).

Meanwhile, stripped of its immaculately-dressed crowd and with reduced prize money due to the coronavirus pandemic, it may be hard to feel “Royal Ascot is as special this year”, Johnston admits.

The 60-year-old Scot has experienced the virus at close quarters, having suffered from it himself, being laid up for a fortnight and “completely out of it for five days”.

Johnston, who in 2018 became the most successful British trainer in terms of all-time winners, says Royal Ascot is going to have a strange feel about it when it gets underway behind closed doors on Tuesday.

“It is hard to feel it is as special this year,” he said.

“It is not the same. What makes Ascot special as a trainer is it is a world shop window.

“I had a runner in my second season (1988) and raced every year at Ascot prior to 1995 without a single winner but you felt the importance of being there for the owners.

“Many a time I looked at the prize money and felt it was not equal to the competition you are up against.

“However, I always said we treat it differently as a race meeting to any others.” Johnston said even if prize money historically was less than at other meetings, winning a race at Ascot carried a rare cachet.

“It is very important for owners to have runners there for re-sale and breeding value,” he said.

“Ascot carries a significant premium.

“This year the prize money is even worse, although there is no alternative this time so that has to be a positive for it.”

Johnston usually has a plethora of runners, especially in the handicaps, but this year he is being conservative.

“Does it (Royal Ascot) have attraction for me? I have mixed feelings about it,” he said.

“My team will be depleted in numbers as I am simply not going to throw darts at a board this year like I might do when it is the usual Royal Ascot.”

Nevertheless Johnston is excited about his chances of landing the prize he treasures the most -- and the first race he won at the meeting in 1995 -- the Ascot Gold Cup.

Agencies