Royal Ascot ends on a Saturday with one of the year’s best sprints. The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, run over six furlongs on Good to Firm ground at 15:40 today, has 18 runners and a prize fund of £1 million. At the head of the market sits an Australian mare making her British debut. Chasing her is a Japanese stallion seeking to make history.
This is not a parochial race. It never is.
The Race
The Jubilee Stakes is a Group 1 for horses aged four and older. It is run on the straight course at Ascot, six furlongs, and it rewards horses with genuine sprint speed and the constitution to handle fast ground. The field this year has runners from Australia, Japan, France, Ireland and across Britain. Eighteen declared runners at the off.
Prize money: £1,000,000 guaranteed, with £567,100 to the winner. For international connections, this prize, on top of the prestige of a Royal Ascot Group 1 , makes the trip worthwhile.
The Market Leader: Joliestar (Draw 17, 6/4 — Chris Waller / James McDonald)
Joliestar is a five-year-old Australian mare who arrives at Royal Ascot with five Group 1 victories on her record. She has won her last three starts, including the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick against strong opposition. She also has a win in the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington, run on a straight course, which gives her connections reason to believe the straight six furlongs at Ascot suits her.
She makes her British debut here, drawn in stall 17 of 18. Chris Waller and James McDonald are among the most respected combinations in Australian racing. McDonald knows what it takes to win big races on foreign soil. The market has placed its trust in the Australian delegation.
The key question mark, as with any overseas raider, is whether the conditions translate. Ascot’s straight course is fast, demanding, and exposed. Joliestar goes well on firm turf. The going suits. She also goes well without an abundance of cover, which stall 17 may provide.
The Rival: Satono Reve (Draw 14, 5/2 — Noriyuki Hori / Ryan Moore)
Satono Reve is a seven-year-old Japanese stallion who could become the first Japanese-trained winner at Royal Ascot if he takes this race. He is trained by Noriyuki Hori and ridden by Ryan Moore, fresh from Thursday’s Gold Cup triumph on Scandinavia.
His 2026 season has been strong. He won the Grade I Takamatsunomiya Kinen on March 29 by two lengths. He then ran second to the highly rated Ka Ying Rising in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin in April. He finished second in this exact race last year, behind Lazzat.
That Jubilee runner-up position matters. He knows the track, he has handled the ground before, and he goes better with each year. His official rating of 119 is the joint highest in the field. Moore, who completed his final preparatory piece of work on Satono Reve at Newmarket last week, will know exactly how this horse travels and how to get the best from him.
The Value in the Market: Lake Forest (Draw 8, 8/1 — W J Haggas / Cieren Fallon)
Lake Forest shares the joint-highest official rating in the field with Satono Reve, both on 119. He is trained by William Haggas, who also has Almeraq in the race, and ridden by Cieren Fallon. At 8/1 he is significantly shorter than his price might suggest he would be in a weaker field.
Comanche Brave (Draw 3, 12/1 — Donnacha O’Brien / Pierre-Charles Boudot)
The four-year-old from Donnacha O’Brien’s yard won the Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh recently, a traditional pointer for top sprinters heading towards Royal Ascot. His draw in stall 3 gives him every opportunity to travel the straight course from a forward position.
Other Contenders
Kind Of Blue (Draw 7, 25/1, Fanshawe/Buick) holds an official rating of 114. Overpass (Draw 10, 16/1, Bjorn Baker/Joshua Parr), the other Australian raider, has an official rating of 116 and runs for a trainer with a strong record of preparing horses for big international days.
The international dimension of this field is genuine and rare. Japan (Satono Reve, Lugal), Australia (Joliestar, Overpass), France, Ireland and across Britain all represented in one six-furlong race.
Verdict
Joliestar is a worthy favourite. Her form is current, her conditions suit, and her trainer and jockey command confidence. The question is whether an Australian mare on her first run in Britain finds the straight Ascot track — with no hiding place in six furlongs — as straightforward as her form suggests it should be.
Satono Reve ran this race last year and finished second. He has improved since. Ryan Moore rarely takes rides at this level without a serious chance. His joint-top official rating of 119, his course form, and the booking of the world’s best jockey suggest connections believe he is the best horse in this race.
Lake Forest at 8/1 carries the same peak official rating as the second favourite. In a race decided by fine margins over six furlongs, he should not be ignored.
Whatever the outcome, this will be a race worth watching. The curtain comes down on Royal Ascot 2026 at 15:40.
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