Haggas caps Royal Ascot with Almeraq’s shock Group 1 win

William Haggas left Royal Ascot with four winners and the sort of statement performance that can rearrange a stable’s summer map. Almeraq’s nose defeat of Japan’s Satono Reve in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on the final day was the flashpoint, a 25/1 shock that turned a six-furlong finish into an international four-way dash, with Joliestar third and Stolen Kiss fourth.

The win carried real weight because Almeraq’s path to the top level has been anything but smooth. He clipped heels and fell at York in September 2025, then rebuilt the script with a Listed win in the Cathedral Stakes at Salisbury in May before stepping up and beating proven Group 1 runners at Ascot. Tom Marquand got the ride right when it mattered most, timing the late-closing colt’s run to perfection as the line came up with Satono Reve and the rest still in frame.

If Almeraq supplied the headline, Opportunity gave Haggas another angle on the week. James McDonald steered him to a 1¾-length win in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes, and the stable is now expected to move him up in class for his next start. That plan matters because Haggas is not looking at Royal Ascot as a one-horse spike. He is building a summer roster, and Opportunity looks like a horse who can travel farther up the handicap ladder or into deeper races if the progression holds.

Alobayyah added another layer on day two, landing the Kensington Palace Stakes at 11/4 and confirming Haggas’s depth in the fillies’ and mares’ ranks. Seren Star ran third and Rhapsody fourth, giving the yard a clean sweep of the race’s key finishing positions behind the winner. Sporting Life’s read on the week was that both Opportunity and Alobayyah are likely to be stepped up in class next, which fits the way Haggas tends to use Ascot as a launching pad rather than a finish line.

More Thunder is the other horse in the frame. After finishing second in the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on his first attempt at a mile, only Notable Speech stopped him, and he was then pointed toward the Queen Anne Stakes. That gives Haggas a different kind of weapon for the next part of the season, one built around mile Group 1 company rather than pure sprint speed.

Royal Ascot itself raised the stakes around the whole week, with a record £10.65 million in prize money from a 2026 budget of £19.4 million and eight Group 1 races on the card. Haggas did not just collect a big payday. He left Ascot with a sprint winner, a handicap winner, a filly who looks ready to move on, and a mile horse already lining up for the next top-level shot.