Graham Dench's superb race-by-race guide to the opening day of the royal meeting

1.15: Buckingham Palace Handicap, 7f

An immediate reminder that this is a Royal Ascot like no other, for an expanded and reordered 36-race meeting begins not with the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes but with a 7f handicap that we thought had been consigned to history when it was dropped to make way for the Commonwealth Cup in 2015.

In what is now very much a starter for punters rather than purists, the early market was headed by John Gosden's Daarik, who returned from more than a year off to beat a decent field at Newcastle, and Roger Varian's Mutamaasik, who also carries Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's colours and was highly progressive last year.

However, Nigel Tinkler's 7f specialist Kaeso was heading some lists over the weekend after strong support. He has run some terrific races in defeat here and Oisin Murphy is booked.