Australian sprinters Joliestar, Overpass tune up for Royal Ascot targets

Joliestar and Overpass did not come to Royal Ascot for ceremony. They came for answers, and their first looks at the turf on Friday morning offered them exactly that: a feel for the bends, the underfoot conditions and the pressure of an English straight that will ask very different questions next week.

The work was deliberately restrained. Joliestar covered 800 meters in a confidence-building gallop meant more for acclimatization than a test of raw speed, with assistant Charlie Duckworth saying the point was to get her familiar with the track, parade ring and surroundings. Duckworth said she went the first two furlongs at about 15 seconds per furlong before quickening under a nice hold, and there is still time for another gallop next week. For a mare with five Group 1 wins already in Australia, the move looked less like a tune-up and more like a final systems check.

That record is the reason she matters so much in the week’s biggest sprint puzzle. Joliestar won the A$3 million TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick on April 4, 2026, beating Giga Kick by half a length with Skybird third, and that victory was her fifth Group 1. She also won the 2025 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington by 1¼ lengths, another result that fits the profile of Australian sprinters who have crossed to Ascot and thrived. Choisir did it first in 2003, and the line of Australian success since then runs through horses such as Miss Andretti, Scenic Blast, Takeover Target, Nature Strip and Asfoora.

Overpass followed a similar path, though with a different kind of edge. Bjorn Baker has pointed to the sprinter’s experience, both on and off the track, as a possible advantage in the King Charles III Stakes, where he will be Baker’s first runner at the Royal Meeting. That matters in a race that traces back to 1837, was elevated to Group 1 status in 2008 and has long been one of the quickest five-furlong tests in the world. Ascot itself said the 2019 renewal was rated the highest-quality sprint race in the world, which is the level Overpass is walking into.

Joliestar will line up in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on Saturday, the final-day five-furlong feature that began in 1868 and became a Group 1 in 2002. Overpass goes in the opening-day King Charles III Stakes on Tuesday, with Scott Darby’s Darby Racing colours behind him. The early signs are simple enough: both horses have handled the first look, and neither camp is treating the trip as a sightseeing tour.