Goldie looking for King Charles repeat with American Affair

Jim Goldie is confident American Affair will put up a staunch defence of his crown in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The six-year-old provided his Scottish trainer with a first taste of Group One success in this race 12 months ago and it was unfortunate for all concerned that a subsequent injury meant he was not seen again in 2025.

But with a comeback run at York in mid-May blowing away any cobwebs, American Affair finished a close second behind the reopposing Night Raider in Haydock’s Temple Stakes, and Goldie is hopeful is stable star is coming to the boil at just the right time ahead of his return to Berkshire.

He said: “We’re very happy with him, but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating won’t it?

“The ground looks as though it is going to be exactly the way it was last year and we’ve got a similar draw (stall 18) which is good and there’s plenty of pace around us. We’re next to the Australian horse (Overpass) who you would think will go quick, but our horse thinks he’s pretty quick as well!

“It should be a good race and we’re looking forward to it.”

The Karl Burke-trained Night Raider appears to be a reformed character since being gelded, with his one-length victory over American Affair on Merseyside preceded by success in the Palace House at Newmarket.

Often a front-runner, a tardy start put Night Raider on the back foot at Haydock, but Burke hopes to see him revert to his usual tactics on Tuesday.

“He goes there in good form. It won’t be an easy race against the Australians, but he deserves to take his chance and if everything goes smoothly for him I think he’ll run very well,” said the Spigot Lodge handler.

“He obviously came from behind in the Temple, but that wasn’t by design. I think we just ride him the same as we usually do, hopefully he jumps quick and we can let him get into his stride and if they can go with him they go with him.”

The market is headed by Bjorn Baker’s Australian challenger Overpass, who has done much of his racing over six furlongs in his homeland.

The seven-year-old has not won since November 2024, but performed creditably on his only previous start of this season when fourth in the TJ Smith Stakes behind Chris Waller’s Joliestar, who is favourite for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on Saturday.

Baker said: “Overpass has been a remarkable horse. He is very much best fresh, which means we space out his runs.

“He ran very well in the TJ Smith, albeit on a track that was probably too wet for him. The options were Brisbane or here, so given that we want to sell the dream worldwide, we decided to come here.

“I guess the stiff, straight five furlongs here is a little bit of a question mark. Overpass has raced three times down the straight at Flemington, including winning a sales race comfortably enough as a three-year-old. Early on in his career, he ran very well behind Nature Strip over 1,100 metres (five and a half furlongs) and you could argue that is his best distance. He has tended to run over 1,200 metres (six furlongs) because that is how the races have fallen.

“It is hard to know if he is a worthy favourite. At the end of the day, you can only worry about your own horse and I do not pay too much attention to odds.”

Henry Dwyer’s Asfoora became the sixth Australian-trained winner of this race in 2024 and last year added the Nunthorpe and the Prix de l’Abbaye in her top-level tally in Europe.

She has been disappointing in the two races won by Night Raider this spring and Dwyer is hoping the reapplication of headgear will spark a revival.

“The blinkers are going back on so there’s one trick up our sleeve we hope can help a bit and you’ve just got to hope they do,” he said.

“We’ve trained her to come on with each run and we knew when she started at Newmarket we didn’t want to be at our peak two months before the big dance.”