Famous U.S. Trained Winners at Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot is an event on the international horse racing calendar where every leading trainer and owner dreams of having a runner, particularly those based in the US.

Here is a look back at some US-trained horses who have managed to prevail at the meeting and as a result establish themselves as some of the best of their generation.

Lady Aurelia

Former Cartier Champion Two-year-old Filly Lady Aurelia was successful in two races at Royal Ascot during her career. She scored in the Queen Mary Stakes in 2016, while 12 months later, she returned to the royal meeting to prevail in the King’s Stand Stakes.

In the Group One contest in 2017, she beat 16 other rivals in the five-furlong sprint. After the race, her trainer Wesley Ward described her as a “horse in a lifetime”. The American will be hoping Golden Pal can replicate what Lady Aurelia did in the day one feature this year. He is the +175 favorite in the Royal Ascot betting odds for the leading sprint race.

Lady Aurelia was unable to make it a hat-trick of wins at Royal Ascot in the 2018 King’s Stand Stakes. She retired in 2018, finishing with a record of five wins from nine starts. Her time on the track was enough to establish her as one of the best American sprinters of all time. 

Tepin

US-based horses don’t have a great record against their European counterparts on turf over one mile, so that’s why Tepin’s victory in the 2016 Queen Anne Stakes was a huge achievement. The former Breeders’ Cup Mile winner became the first horse based outside of Europe to win the Group One race.

Tepin beat a strong European field that included Amazing Maria, Belardo, Ervedya, Esoterique and Toormore. She was involved in a strong tussle with Belardo inside the final furlong but was able to find more than her rival to prevail by half a length.

Her victory at the Royal Ascot ensured she ended 2016 as the American Champion Female Turf Horse for the second straight year. She later went on to score in the Woodbine Mile in Canada before retiring to study at the end of that season.

Undrafted

The Platinum Jubilee Stakes is one of the two biggest sprint races at Royal Ascot and in 2015 Undrafted came out on top for Ward. He got the better of leading Australian horse Brazen Beau in the six-furlong contest by half a length under the hands of Frankie Dettori.

It was the first time a US-trained horse had won a Group One race at Royal Ascot, and it was a victory that encouraged more of the leading trainers in the country to make the trip across to the meeting.

Undrafted won eight races in total in his career, with other notable successes including his victories at Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland and Jaipur Invitational Stakes at Belmont Park. 

Hopefully, there will be more US-trained winners at future Royal Ascot meetings, joining the likes of Lady Aurelia, Tepin and Undrafted in the history books of US racing.