Ribblesdale

   It's Thursday at Royal Ascot, which can only mean that it's time for Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) with the Gosden titan now bidding for a record-equalling fourth renewal of the G1 Gold Cup. As Yeats (Ire) did before him, Bjorn Nielsen's stayer supreme just keeps coming back to deal with the latest set of opponents looking to stretch him. In his inaugural triumph in 2018, it was the French doyen Vazirabad (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}) who felt his breeze as Frankie's favourite winning post loomed, while a year...

Champion and win machine Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) looms large as she looks to defend her title in an expected seven-horse renewal of Saturday's GI Beverly D. S., the first of three Grade Is at Arlington. A winner of three of four to start her career in France, the bay earned a trip to America with a second at 12-1 in the G1 Prix de Diane Longines two summers ago. Since then, she's a neck and a head from being undefeated in seven U.S. starts, all except one coming at...