Royal Ascot 2024 live: Latest day one updates and race results including St James’s Palace Stakes

Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the first day of Royal Ascot, with the St James’s Palace Stakes at 4.25pm the highlight of an open-looking card.

The mile race sees Notable Speech and Rosallion, first and second home in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket last month, do battle again. Richard Hannon trained Rosallion was beaten by a length-and-a-half that day. A decade ago, Hannon watched Kingman gain revenge on his very own Newmarket hero Night Of Thunder at the Royal meeting. Now Hannon is the one hoping for a reversal.

“We’ve been delighted with him since his win in the Irish Guineas and physically he looks like he has come on again,” said Hannon of Rosallion.

“I really couldn’t be happier with him, and like everyone I’m really looking forward to the race – it looks a fantastic race.

“I would rather be drawn one than the outside and I think that will be fine, there are no excuses from there.

“This is probably the biggest test of his life and he will have to be at his very best to win it. Whatever wins this will be an extremely good horse and I think there are probably four of five extremely good horses in there.”

Connections of Notable Speech are respectful of the challenge Rosallion presents, in a race that could firmly establish the one-mile pecking order, with Mario Baratti’s French 2000 Guineas scorer Metropolitan also in the mix.

Charlie Appleby has never won the Coventry Stakes (3.05pm), but will hope that changes with his impressive Lingfield scorer Al Qudra, who joins stable-mate Symbol Of Honour in the six-furlong event.

Big-spending Wathnan Racing have three colts in the mix and having driven up and down the country, retained jockey James Doyle has elected to partner Richard Fahey’s Hamilton scorer Catalyse over stablemate Columnist and Archie Watson’s Electrolyte.

Camille Pissarro is the sole Ballydoyle entrant as Aidan O’Brien’s Marble Hill Stakes runner-up bids to follow up last year’s win for connections by River Tiber.