John and Thady Gosden arrive at Royal Ascot in excellent fettle. The father-and-son training partnership were the meeting’s leading trainers in 2025, saddling five winners, including Trawlerman in the Gold Cup and Field Of Gold in the St James’s Palace Stakes, and they look well-equipped to defend that title this summer. For those looking to bet on horse racing at the Royal meeting, the Clarehaven team offer some of the most compelling options across the five days. Here are three of their leading ante-post entries.
Damysus: Queen Anne Stakes (5/1)
The Queen Anne Stakes is the traditional curtain-raiser on day one, and Damysus looks an exciting contender for the Gosdens in the opening Group 1 of the week. The Wathnan Racing-owned Frankel colt was placed in the Sandown Classic Trial and the Dante at York as a three-year-old, though a tilt at Derby glory proved a step too far as he finished last of 18 at Epsom. He showed his quality later in that campaign, however, dropping back from a mile and a half to win in Listed company in France before rounding off the season with victory over nine furlongs in the Darley Stakes in October.
He returned to action at the Craven meeting this spring, and he looks set to make his mark at the highest level, judged on a dominant comeback success in the Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket. The Queen Anne is a step up in class and over a slightly shorter trip, but a horse with a Frankel pedigree operating at an official rating of 113 has every right to feature at 5/1, and connections clearly believe the straight mile at Ascot will play to his strengths.
Ombudsman: Prince of Wales’s Stakes (7/2)
If Damysus is the exciting prospect, Ombudsman is the proven commodity. The five-year-old Night of Thunder gelding won the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Ascot and the Juddmonte International at York in 2025, reaching an official rating of 128 and earning recognition as the world’s best racehorse. He found only Calandagan too good when bidding for a third Group 1 of the campaign in the Champion Stakes on Champions Day, but that was no disgrace against a horse in the form of his life.
He returned for his 2026 campaign in the Dubai Turf at Meydan, winning comfortably by a length and three-quarters, confirming that all is well heading into the summer. He holds entries for both the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh and the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, with the latter the obvious target given he is the defending champion.
Those browsing the Royal Ascot odds will note that 7/2 for the reigning winner of the race, who is arguably the best middle-distance horse in Europe, represents a fair rather than generous price, which tells you plenty about the quality of opposition he is likely to face. He remains the one to beat.
Trawlerman: Ascot Gold Cup (10/3)
The staying division belongs to Trawlerman. The Godolphin-owned eight-year-old made every yard of the running in the 2025 Gold Cup, drawing seven lengths clear of Illinois in an imperious display under William Buick, and he also won the British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot in October 2025, his second victory in that race having also landed the 2023 renewal.
After his Gold Cup victory, John Gosden confirmed that Trawlerman would not be over-raced, hinting that the Henry II Stakes at Sandown could be his spring prep before another tilt at the two-and-a-half-mile feature. At 10/3, he is not the favourite, with the O’Brien-trained Scandinavia heading the market, but Trawlerman has a course record, proven stamina, and the ideal front-running tactics that have served him so well at Ascot. He is a formidable defending champion and one of the most reliable stayers in Europe over the past three seasons.