Joliestar chases – Cambridge Stud’s star mare Joliestar lines up as TAB’s AU$3 favorite in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 20, aiming to deliver a Royal Ascot win personally for Brendan and Jo Lindsay after travel limits kept them away in 2020.
On a race day where everything feels louder, Cambridge Stud has spent weeks staring at one date: June 20.
Joliestar. the stable’s champion sprinter. is set to line up as the favorite in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot. The significance isn’t just racing history. For stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay. a win would land in the most personal way imaginable—because in 2020. their shuttle-stallion success with Hello Youmzain came without them in the stands.
In 2020, Hello Youmzain won in their colors. But travel restrictions prevented Brendan and Jo Lindsay from attending Royal Ascot for that victory. leaving a vacancy in the story. Scott Calder. Cambridge Stud sales and nominations manager. says the build-up this time has felt different—less like general anticipation. more like one shared focus across the operation.
“It is very exciting,” Calder said. “It’s all most of us have been able to think about for the last two or three weeks and, as it has gotten closer, it’s certainly what everyone is talking about.”
For the Lindsays, Calder believes a win this week would mean more than a trophy.
“It would be awesome for them if she could win and experience it in person this time,” he said.
Joliestar’s path to this moment has been shaped by an expensive start and ruthless development. She was purchased for AU$950,000 from Segenhoe Thoroughbreds’ draft at the 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. From there, she has grown into one of Australia’s top sprinters, winning five Group 1 races.
Her Group 1 resume includes the 2025 Newmarket Handicap (G1), the 2025 Kingsford-Smith Cup (G1), and April 4 T. J. Smith Stakes (G1).
Now, she’s overseas and being prepared in England under trainer Chris Waller, who reported that the mare has settled in seamlessly.
“Her preparation, you can say, has been faultless, she looks fantastic, her work over the last week has been perfect and she is bouncing and is ready to go,” Waller said.
TAB has Joliestar rated as an AU$3 favorite for Friday’s showpiece.
The field is shaping up with plenty of pressure. June 16’s King Charles III Stakes (G1) third-placegetter Overpass has been declared to run in Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. Bjorn Baker’s 7-year-old was beaten a length by Mission Central on the opening day of Royal Ascot and will have only four days to recover from those exertions.
Joliestar will be ridden by her usual partner James McDonald, while Overpass will be ridden by his regular rider Josh Parr.
The challenge won’t come only from the home circuit. Japanese raider Satono Reve is also in the mix, coming in as runner-up behind Lazzat in last year’s edition. Satono Reve has since won the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1). William Haggas-trained Lake Forest rounds out a powerful Australian contingent. having won the 2023 Gimcrack Stakes (G2) and been runner-up in the 2024 Commonwealth Cup (G1).
Even the longshots have their own gravity at Royal Ascot. Mrs. Fitri Hay’s Khaadem returns for a fifth visit to the meeting after a one-year hiatus in 2025. He’s been kept out as a longshot despite winning back-to-back editions of the Jubilee in 2023-24.
Last year, Khaadem won the Woodford Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland. Since then, the 10-year-old gelded son of Dark Angel has finished off the board in three starts, after a third-place run in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1T).
Joliestar enters all of it on a hot streak: she has won her last three starts, including two at Group 1 level. On the eve of the overseas assignment’s defining race, the yard’s message is simple—this is the kind of preparation that feels like it’s supposed to lead somewhere.
For Brendan and Jo Lindsay, it’s also about the missing chapter from 2020. This time, there’s a chance the victory won’t just happen in their colors—it will happen with them there to witness it.
Joliestar Cambridge Stud Brendan Lindsay Jo Lindsay Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes Royal Ascot Hello Youmzain Scott Calder Chris Waller James McDonald Overpass Satono Reve Lake Forest Khaadem TAB AU$3 favorite