Charyn got the 2024 Royal Ascot meeting off to a flying start with a powerhouse victory in the Queen Anne Stakes, and the Australian mare Asfoora provided a rousing follow-up two races later in the King Charles III Stakes. Rosallion backed up his Irish 2000 Guineas victory with a good win over Henry Longfellow on Tuesday’s third Group 1, the St. James’s Palace Stakes. The announced attendance was 43,791, up from 41,848 in 2023. The Queen Anne, a straight course mile, looked on paper a wildly competitive race, but Charyn, winning for the first time at the top level, made easy work of a dozen rivals, winning by 2 1/4 lengths under Silvestre de Sousa. De Sousa in post-race television comments said he’d done little but bide his time awaiting the right moment to ask Charyn for run, and that’s just about how things looked from the outside. Big Rock and Facteur Cheval, the latter the 5-2 favorite on the North American tote, set off on a two-horse mission on the far side of the Ascot course, sharing the lead with Audience, who headed a group of 11 near the stand’s side rail. Tucked in the middle of that pack was Charyn, who was pulled off cover with more than three furlongs still to race. Audience, front-running upset winner of the J.T. Lockinge Stakes last month, where he beat Charyn by 1 3/4 lengths, briefly opened a couple lengths, but Charyn, de Sousa still quiet in the saddle, quickly bore down on him. De Sousa gave a glance to his right, seeing Big Rock falling away and Facteur Cheval struggling, and with a couple flicks of the right rein Charyn hit the front. :: Bet Royal Ascot with confidence: DRF PPs Available Now No sooner had De Sousa got to serious riding than Charyn briefly drifted left, but the colt soon straightened out and runner-up Docklands wasn’t gaining at the finish after moving strongly into second with a furlong to run. Docklands, a 4-year-old making his Group 1 debut, ran well in defeat, coming home 2 3/4 lengths clear of Maljoom. Audience faded to fifth, with Facteur Cheval, carrying the colors of American owner Gary Barber, who campaigns the gelding with Team Valor International, checking in sixth. Charyn, a 4-year-old by Dark Angel out of Futoon, by Kodiac, paid $8.20 after running the best race of his career. Trained by Roger Varian for Nurlan Bizakov, Charyn won his first Group 1 and his third race from four outings this year. At age 3, Charyn had gone 0-1-3 from seven starts. The Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, the next major mile in England, could be on his agenda. In the King Charles III, a five-furlong dash formerly called the King’s Stand, Asfoora unleashed a huge burst of speed with a little less than a quarter-mile to race, launching herself from the middle of a group of six runners on the stand’s side to attack pacesetting favorite Big Evs, who led the other 11 on the far side. With about a half-furlong left, Asfoora reached Big Evs, who brief resisted, then succumbed as Asfoora went on to a one-length win. Regional snatched second from Big Evs by a half-length and Big Evs was a nose better than fourth-place Believing. American transplant Crimson Advocate did little running and finished 15th. Asfoora, only a Group 2 winner in Australia, came to England for a prep race May 25 in the Temple Stakes at Haydock Park, where she finished fourth over soft ground that didn’t suit her nearly as well as the good-to-firm footing she found Tuesday. Asfoora became the sixth Australian horse to win this race, the most recent being Nature Strip in 2022. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Oisin Murphy rode the winner for trainer Henry Dwyer and Akram El-Fahkri’s Noor Elaine Farm. Winning for the ninth time in 19 starts, 5-year-old Asfoora is an Australian-bred by Flying Artie out of Golden Child, by I Am Invincible. Rosallion, meanwhile, is emerging as Europe’s leading 3-year-old miler as he easily avenged his second-place finish behind Notable Speech in the English 2000 Guineas winning the St. James’s Palace, a one-turn mile for 3-year-olds, by a neck. Rosallion went from the Guineas on May 4 at Newmarket to The Curragh three weeks later, winning the Irish 2000 Guineas by a mere head. Notable Speech was racing for the first time since his Guineas win and struggled home seventh, beating only 40-1 shot Darlinghurst after failing to accelerate from the rear of the field. Rosallion got a great trip under Sean Levey and needed it to overcome an Aidan O’Brien double team. The O’Brien-trained Unquestionable, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, set a moderate pace, with O’Brien’s better chance, Henry Longfellow, waiting just behind him in second.  Levey, breaking from the rail, had little choice but to stick to an inside trip with Rosallion, who was buried on the fence behind Unquestionable and French 2000 Guineas winner Metropolitan with 2 1/2 furlongs to race. Rosallion always traveled powerfully in the bridle, ready to hit a gap, and when Darlinghurst lost position with a furlong and a half to race, Rosallion came out into the clear and ran down Henry Longfellow, who had easily taken the lead from his pacesetting stablemate. The top two were much the best. Metropolitan finished third by one length over Unquestionable while three lengths behind Henry Longfellow. Second choice at 5-2 on the North American tote behind odds-on favorite Notable Speech, Rosallion paid $7.20. Richard Hannon trains the colt for Mohammed Obaid al Maktoum – and quite a colt Rosallion is becoming. By Blue Point out of Rosaline, by New Approach, Rosallion went 3 for 4 at age 2, his lone defeat coming on softer ground than he prefers in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. Rosallion rebounded to win the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere in his seasonal finale, and making his 3-year-old bow held a lead in the English 2000 Guineas before 16-1 Notable Speech swept past to victory. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Notable Speech regressed badly Tuesday, and it’s Rosallion who comes into summer looking like the best horse in his division. * Rashabar won a tight three-horse photo and lit up the tote board in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds. Rashabar, a staggering 127-1, paid $259.80 to win. He was a nose better than Electrolyte, who went off at 25-1 and nipped 64-1 shot Columnist for second. A $2 exacta returned $4,210.60, while a $1 trifecta paid more than $122,000. Rashabar, by Holy Roman Emperor, came into the Coventry after second- and third-place finishes facing supposedly lesser competition. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.