Exciting Al Asifah supplemented for Ribblesdale as Royal Ascot day three confirmations and entries revealed

Shadwell star Baaeed lived up to his status as a Royal Ascot banker in 2022 and the operation are set to field another odds-on shot this year after Sunday's brilliant Goodwood winner Al Asifah was supplemented for Thursday's Ribblesdale Stakes (3.40).

Connections paid £13,150 on Friday to enter the daughter of Frankel into the fillies' Group 2 and the John and Thady Gosden-trained filly is no bigger than 4-5 with William Hill and Unibet to maintain her unbeaten run, just as 1-6 shot Baaeed did in last year's Queen Anne.

The run will come just 12 days on from her six-and-a-half-length victory in the Listed Keyser Fillies' Stakes under Jim Crowley which, on only her second start, saw her price tumble for big summer contests such as the Irish Oaks and King George.

Angus Gold, racing manager to Shadwell, said Al Asifah would take her chance having come out of her last run in "particularly good form" and with the likely quicker ground in her favour.

He said: "It's pretty quick [to be running again] by our standards, but the way she won meant she was pretty much able to do it without being asked the question by Jim. She had a nice stretch down the straight and he never had to give her a smack or change his hands.

"She had a relatively easy race and seems to have come out of it very well. I spoke to John a couple of days after and said she outwardly seemed very full of herself. It's another month until the Irish Oaks, and who knows what the ground is going to be at that stage. We'd have to supplement her before.

"She's in particularly good form and as long as all the outward physical signs look good, let's roll the dice. Sheikha Hissa will hopefully also be at Ascot so she'd be able to see her and she's one of her better horses, which is important."

Al Asifah draws well away from her Goodwood rivals

Al Asifah: Jim Crowley sees distance back to his rivals at GoodwoodCredit: Mark Cranham

Shadwell's emerging star, who is to be ridden by Crowley again, will take on a quality field next week. Infinite Cosmos finished third to Soul Sister in the Musidora at York in May, having been sent off favourite against the subsequent Oaks winner. Promising types Azazat, Bluestocking and Be Happy were also confirmed for the Ribblesdale.

The step up to a mile and a half is expected to suit Al Asifah. Gold said: "Looking at the make and shape of her, I'd be surprised if she didn't stay. Until we see it we don't know but Jim would've had a better feeling than anyone the other day and he said she ran right through the line and he wouldn't worry about the trip."

Al Asifah and Coronation Stakes fancy Tahiyra are the only odds-on shots across the five days of Royal Ascot, but Gold insists no race at the fixture is easy to win. There have been 30 odds-on shots in the last ten years but only half of them have won, including the operation's Battaash and Baaeed.

He said: "It's a big week of our year and everyone wants to have a winner at Ascot. We seem to have a few possibilities but everyone knows how hard it is to win there. We're not taking anything for granted, but I hope she can run a really big race."

Ribblesdale Stakes

Al Asifah Jim Crowley
Azazat TBC
Be Happy TBC
Bluestocking TBC
Climate Friendly TBC
Cloudbreaker TBC
Crown Princesse TBC
Ferrari Queen TBC
Ghara Andrea Atzeni
Infinite Cosmos TBC
Lmay Kieran Shoemark
Luckin Brew TBC
Lumiere Rock TBC
Maman Joon TBC
Midnight Mile TBC
Perfect Prophet TBC
Red Riding Hood TBC
Rocha Do Leao TBC
Sea Of Roses TBC
Understated TBC
Village Voice Ronan Whelan
Warm Heart TBC