Prince Of Wales's Stakes (G1)
Ascot - 17th June 2026
It’s hard to equate how many column inches, TV broadcasts and podcast minutes have been devoted to the argument over who is the world’s best racehorse? Every racing fan, in every country around the world will have their own opinion and great cases can be made for all of the big names at the top of the list. Having quickly forgiven the run in appalling conditions at Epsom, I won’t be shaken from my opinion that Calandagan wears that crown and technically, I could make the argument that today’s result only enhanced his claims. However, there are just a handful of horses who can really be considered to be in contention and after watching the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and reviewing the data, Ombudsman must now be on everyone’s shortlist.
The winning time may have been slower than last year, but having run the 10 furlongs in 2:03.24, Ombudsman was still able to record a winning time that was within a second of the expected time and once again, he was helped by the Ballydoyle runners simply going too fast in front. Much like the 2025 race, the early pacemakers went very hard and both Mississippi River and Devil’s Advocate covered the opening half a mile in under 50s. Ombudsman was ridden patiently by William Buick, but whilst his mount settled and seemed happy enough as they began to climb for home, the stiff early pace had several of his main rivals in difficulty, most notably Daryz. It’s not Daryz’s fault and there will be plenty of other opportunities for Francis-Henri Graffard’s 4-year-old, but he found this much hotter than the races he has been winning with such authority at Paris Longchamp. He ran 13.34s for his 3rd furlong in the Prix Ganay, almost a second slower than the 12.38s that he recorded for the same furlong in Wednesday’s race. He ran well under the circumstances and would probably prefer a bit of cut in the ground too, but having twice traveled to the UK to run in Group 1 races on fast ground, he has been found wanting and it may simply be that he is better suited by the Paris track. Minnie Hauk is a slightly different case given that Ryan Moore learned from last year’s race and chose to allow his mount to drop off the pacemakers when it became clear that they were going very hard. She rallied well in the home straight and only Ombudsman was able to surpass her late speed figure of 36.7 mph. Her closing quarter of a mile was run in a time of 24.37s, a fine effort on ground that was probably lively enough for her, but it was still 0.94s slower than Ombudsman. The ground and stall 1 were against Almaqam but the overall point needs to be made that the winner was entirely dominant and I don’t want to spend any more time focusing on the rest.
As our infographic above shows, he wasn’t just the winner, he was emphatic. Making smooth headway under William Buick, he was the fastest horse in each of the last 3 furlong splits and he galloped on through the line to record a run-out speed that was more than 2 mph faster than the runner-up. He was the beneficiary of a superb judgement of pace by William Buick, but he reached a peak stride frequency average of 2.5 strides per second in the penultimate furlong and despite having the shortest peak average stride in the field, the way he finished his race would suggest that he could have won by further had it been required. The best late speed on the card outside of the sprint division pays further tribute to that view and our data shows that William Buick could have dropped Ombudsman into any of the first 5 races at the 2 furlong pole and he would have won every time. Only truly great horses have the ability to record data like this. Under these conditions it would appear that Ombudsman is bordering on unbeatable.
When I reviewed this race last year, I felt that Ombudsman had overcome some trouble in running but had ultimately been able to pick up the pieces when his rivals faded away. That may have been true, but despite the slower time this year I would have to argue that this was a career best. He has made his way past a field that was packed full of Group 1 performers and done so with ease. Having repelled the best that Ireland, France and the rest of the UK could throw at him, Ombudsman has produced the best performance of the week and it is unlikely to be beaten in the remaining 3 days. Whenever there are conversations held about who is the best racehorse in the world, Ombudsman has now earned his right to be talked of at length in those discussions.