Royal Ascot day three: Gold Cup, latest news and racing tips – live

Good morning from Royal Ascot on Ladies’ Day, the traditional highlight of the royal meeting with the Gold Cup – officially not the Ascot Gold Cup – as the feature race on the card.

The UK’s only two-and-a-half mile Group One is not quite the jewel in the crown that it was a century-and-a-half ago, when the Gold Cup was often seen as the automatic long-term target for a Derby winner in his four-year-old season.

But it has weathered a spell around the turn of the century when staying events in general seemed to be falling out of favour, and is once again a prize that every owner wants to win, not least because the reigning monarch will be handing over the trophy.

The late Queen Elizabeth II won every British Classic bar the Derby, but was still reckoned to feel that presenting the prize to herself after Estimate’s win in 2013 was the highlight of her many decades as an owner. And it is a race that remains very popular with the commoners too, as the winners often return year after year to defend their crown.

That is exactly what Kyprios seemed likely to do when he won the race as a four-year-old in 2022, and though he was denied the chance of a second success by injury last year, he will set off as a warm favourite to make up for lost time at 4.25 this afternoon. The King and Queen, meanwhile, do not have a runner in this year’s race, but they do have a live contender for the King George V Stakes in Gilded Water at 3.05, a race they memorably won last year with Desert Hero.

The weather forecast here remains fine and dry, and the good-to-firm going is perfect summer ground. Some picks for the afternoon’s seven races are here – showing a teeny-tiny profit for the meeting after two days, so no doubt downhill from now on – and the action is underway with the Norfolk Stakes at 2.30.