A number of Kentucky-based runners are continuing their preparations for next month’s Royal Ascot meeting in England, including Caravel, the reigning Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner. Caravel, owned by Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel, and Madaket Stables, has won four consecutive races. She took the Grade 3 Franklin County and the BC Turf Sprint last fall at Keeneland, defeating European standouts including Emaraaty Ana, Creative Force, Highfield Princess, and Naval Crown in the Breeders’ Cup. She has launched this season with wins in the Grade 2 Shakertown at Keeneland and the Unbridled Sidney at Churchill Downs. She now holds entries to both the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes at five furlongs on June 20, and the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes – the former Platinum Jubilee, renamed this year for England’s late monarch – at six furlongs on June 24. Caravel has been in a steady training pattern at Churchill Downs since winning the Unbridled Sidney on May 5, and is likely to breeze at Churchill Downs this week. “One of the reasons we brought her back at the age of 6 was to point towards Royal Ascot,” trainer Brad Cox said. “She was in the November sale at Keeneland and we took her out. We’ll see how Royal Ascot goes and hope to get her back to the Breeders’ Cup.” Cox will be saddling his first Royal Ascot starter in Caravel. :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator.  On the other side of the experience scale, Wesley Ward, the most accomplished American trainer in the history of Royal Ascot, is busy preparing his annual raiding party down the highway at Keeneland. The squad is led by the accomplished fillies Twilight Gleaming, who is pointing to the King’s Stand, and Love Reigns, who is possible for either the King’s Stand or the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at six furlongs for 3-year-olds on June 23. Both fillies won their season debut at Keeneland, with Twilight Gleaming taking the Giant’s Causeway Stakes and Love Reigns winning the Limestone Stakes. Both fillies returned to the work tab last Thursday at Keeneland, turning in separate half-mile breezes, both in 48.40 seconds on the main track. Eight of Ward’s 12 Royal Ascot winners have come in the meeting’s 2-year-old races, and he will again bring a group of young horses for those races, led by the exciting American Rascal. The first foal out of Ward-trained European champion Lady Aurelia, a two-time winner at Royal Ascot, he became the most buzzed-about juvenile of this spring at Keeneland when he won his debut by 10 1/4 lengths on April 20. American Rascal, who is aiming for the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes on June 22, worked Thursday for the first time since his debut, going a half in 52.80. Oaks winner back in training Kentucky Oaks heroine Pretty Mischievous is back on the work tab at Churchill Downs, as she eyes a summer campaign likely structured around Grade 1 races for her division in New York. Pretty Mischievous went back to the track on May 11. Last Thursday, she worked a half-mile in 49.80 seconds. “She was bright as a button following the Oaks,” said Brendan Walsh, who trains the Godolphin homebred. “She loves to train and rarely has a bad day.” While plans have yet to be finalized, the Grade 1, $500,000 Acorn Stakes on June 9 at Belmont is an option for Pretty Mischievous. Although the race is still around one turn, it was lengthened this year from a mile to a mile and sixteenth. Foley to train for racing club Trainer Greg Foley, a Churchill Downs mainstay, has been named the trainer for the 2023 Churchill Downs Racing Club. Churchill announced last week that Foley will partner with the track to purchase an unraced 2-year-old, which up to 200 people can purchase an ownership interest in for a one-time cost of $500. The Churchill Downs Racing Club was launched in 2016 to provide a low-risk foray into Thoroughbred ownership for new participants. The operation has found success with the likes of Warrior’s Club, winner of the Grade 3 Commonwealth Stakes in 2018. “The Racing Club has been a huge success at getting fans interested in owning horses,” Foley said in a release. “I’m really excited for this opportunity to train for the club and have the chance to meet everyone to introduce them to a side of horse racing they may not be familiar with.” Among Foley’s horses is Bango, who has won 10 races at Churchill Downs. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.