Wesley Ward’s Golden Pal blasted to the front early in Friday’s Nunthorpe S. (G1) at York, but by halfway, speedy sophomore filly Winter Power was already grabbing the free ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1).

The 2021 Royal Ascot meeting in England opened with a bang on Tuesday as Palace Pier, Oxted, and Poetic Flare posted Group 1 wins.

Royal Ascot’s glittering five-day stand begins Tuesday. Three Group 1s are on tap, beginning with the Queen Anne S. (G1) that serves as a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1), and a couple of American sprinters are taking on defending champ Battaash in the King’s Stand S. (G1).

The five-day Royal Ascot meet kicked off on Tuesday with a stellar slate of seven races, none of them more exciting than the featured Queen Anne (G1), which saw the improving Circus Maximus dig deep to prevail in in a thrilling finish.