Royal Ascot Top Performers: Where next for Paddington, Pyledriver and others?

• Paddington and Vauban star on Day 1

• Mostahdaf now one of the best in Europe

• Breeders' Cup on the agenda for star filly Tahiyra

• Pyledriver's movie magic story continues

Paddington - St James' Palace Stakes

It wasn't just that Paddington won the Group 1 St James' Palace Stakes in tremendous style that impressed most, it's the fact that Aidan O'Brien's 3yo was running in a Naas handicap just three months earlier.

Success there meant a rise to Listed company, which he would take in his stride before landing the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh.

Going into Royal Ascot we knew that Paddington was a colt on the upgrade, but few would have expected the dominant performance that saw him finish over three lengths clear of the English 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean.

He'll have no problems stepping up to 1m2f and even beyond, so the world is his oyster with entries in next month's Coral Eclipse at Sandown - for which he is priced at 9/25.50 on the Betfair Sportsbook - the Irish Champion Stakes, and even the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (25/126.00).

And beyond that, who knows. He could even take in the Breeders' Cup in November before embarking on a successful 4yo campaign.

Vauban - Copper Horse Handicap

Going into Royal Ascot, top class Hurdler Vauban was widely regarded as the best handicapped horse of the whole meeting. He didn't disappoint.

Talk of him being not just any Group horse, but a Group 1 horse in a handicap meant that he went off as the Evens favourite for the Copper Horse Handicap, and given the hype before the race, and how he subsequently won it, the only surprise is that he didn't go off at 1/31.33!

Betfair Ambassador Ryan Moore took the race by the scruff of the neck, leading from pillar to post knowing that the 5yo was the best horse in the race. If only his owner Rich Ricci had the same confidence as Ryan!

The further they went the better he looked, and the wide-margin victory had many questioning why he didn't go for the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup later in the week.

That race is likely to be Vauban's number one target next season, but for the remainder of this the Irish St Leger could be next up for the Willie Mullins-trained gelding before a trip to Australia in November for the 'race that stops a nation' the Melbourne Cup, for which he can be backed at 7/18.00.

Mostahdaf - Prince of Wales' Stakes

A field of just six went to post for one of Royal Ascot's races of the meeting, the Group 1 Prince of Wales' Stakes, with Mostahdaf only fifth in the betting at 10/111.00 behind top class peformers Luxembourg, Bay Bridge and Adayar.

But John and Thady Gosden's 5yo put in a scintillating performance, always travelling well in the rear before a sweeping run took him to the lead and an eventual four length victory.

He could easily be flattered by that 'career-best' wide-margin win given that it appeared a few of those behind didn't appear to run their true races, but it's hard to knock the manner in which he won and he's now been given an official mark of 128, meaning he's one of the top rated horses in training.

Like Paddington, Mostahdaf has entries in the Coral Eclipse (16/117.00), the Juddmonte International (2/13.00), and the Irish Champion Stakes, but interestingly he's not entered in the 1m4f Arc de Triomphe, a race in which he finished stone cold last in 2022.

Tahiyra - Coronation Stakes

Tahiyra wasn't overly impresive in winning the Group 1 Coronation Stakes but there's something rather special about this filly that makes you want to keep an eye on her for the rest of the season.

Dermot Weld was at pains to say his 3yo filly - runner-up in the English 1,000 Guineas before winning the Irish version - would be no better or fitter than she was when winning previously as many 'bigger' targets lie ahead later in the season.

And perhaps she was a bit fortunate in beating Remarquee by just a length given the troubled run of the runner-up, but she can do no more than win and with two Group 1 victories to her name this term she's already one of the best fillies in training.

She has an entry in the Irish Oaks over 1m4f in late July, but the fact that she holds an entry in the 1m Matron Stakes in September suggests that's the trip she will be campaigned over, meaning a trip to Santa Anita in November for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf over one mile could be her primary target.

Pyledriver - Hardwicke Stakes

The story of Pyledriver is surely a film in the making. Unsold as a foal given his reserve price of just 10,000 guineas wasn't met, he has since gone on to win £2m in prize money.

And it appears that now as a 6yo he's getting better with age.

Last season's King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes winner, he'd been off the track ever since for various reasons before turning up for Saturday's Hardwicke Stakes, a race in which he was fully entitled to need.

But William Muir's stable star defied the odds again, lowering the colours of the strong favourite Free Wind among others to run out a comfortable winner, sparking huge emotion among his connections.

There are two obvious targets for Pyledriver for the remainder of the season, the first being his defence of the King George in late July, for which he can be backed at 6/17.00, and then it could be a trip to France for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (20/121.00) in October.