We're not even at the halfway point and already there has been no shortage of talking points from Royal Ascot. Between team tactics, prickly rivalries, outstanding displays in the saddle from young talents like Dylan Browne-McMonagle and Billy Loughnane and more, it really has been an absorbing week so far. Here are five potential talking points that could get tongues wagging come close of play on Thursday. Joseph O'Brien: tied with his father Aidan on three winners apiece | Sarah AndrewExpect More O'Brien Domination In The Juvenile RacesIf your surname isn't O'Brien, you haven't stood a chance in the juvenile races so far this week. Aidan's decision to split Victorious and Sun Goddess up between the Queen Mary and the Albany has so far proved to be the right one with the former running out an impressive winner on Wednesday. That result came off the back of Great Barrier Reef's success in the Coventry Stakes on Tuesday. Well, his son Joseph, who is having an exemplary week, must have said 'anything you can do, I can do better,' by sending out St Mark's Basilica colt King Of Cloughan to win the Windsor Castle. The scary thing is that Aidan and Joseph are well stacked in the juvenile department to maintain their stranglehold. Curragh maiden scorer Aix La Chapelle (Justify) heads the Ballydoyle challenge – and indeed the market – for Thursday's opening Chesham Stakes while Joseph's On Just Terms (Justify) is not without a chance in the race, especially off the back of an encouraging display in a recent barrier trial at Naas. It has been a notable trend and few would bet against the O'Brien domination continuing across the board, but especially in the two-year-old contest. By Brian SheerinWill The Chesham Throw Up Some Guineas Clues?Since Churchill took the Chesham in 2016, the race seems to have become a key staging post for Ballydoyle's main 2,000 Guineas prospects. Battleground and Point Lonsdale won it and went off as either favourite or near favourite for the Newmarket Classic the following May, while in 2022 their Dubawi colt Alfred Munnings was considered a superstar in the making at the time before the wheels came off. All eyes will be on Aix La Chapelle and the maiden South Dakota (St Mark's Basilica), both of whom have the expected accomplished siblings. It will be interesting to see what plays out with a view towards next spring. Tom FraryLocation, Location, LocationStalls two and six are the favoured spots in the G1 Gold Cup with four winners apiece since the turn of the century. Last year's hero Trawlerman (Golden Horn) departed from stall two–as did Stradivarius, twice, and Yeats–and will do so again in his first outing of the season. The Andrew Balding-trained Furthur (Waldgeist) will attempt to defy his odds of 66-1 coming out six, which was also of benefit to those aforementioned multiple winners. Stalls four, five and eight have provided three winners each, which will give crumbs of comfort to supporters of Carmers (Wootton Bassett), Dubai Future (Dubawi) and Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett). Scandinavia (Justify) will break from stall three, which has provided just two winners since 1990.Sean CroninToo Soon Back For Legacy Link?In the last 10 years, only Magic Wand and Coronet managed to come from the Oaks and win the Ribblesdale, which is not a surprise given the short timespan between the two races. It came too soon for the likes of You Got To Me, but John Gosden isn't one to back up horses quickly and so it must be taken as a positive that Juddmonte's Legacy Link (Dubawi) has bounced out of Epsom to be lining up here. The fact that the operation already had the likely favourite in Gilded Prize (Frankel) suggests connections have no concerns about the short turnaround, but there is always a doubt coming back so soon from such a big event. Tom FraryAppleby Still Waiting On Ascot BreakthroughWhile Godolphin was basking in the glory of Ombudsman's back-to-back G1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes wins for the John and Thady Gosden stable, the operation's primary trainer Charlie Appleby remained winless through day two of this year's Royal Ascot fixture. Appleby had to wait until the final day last term, when the globetrotting nine-time Group/Grade 1 winner Rebel's Romance (Dubawi) came up trumps in the G2 Hardwicke Stakes, and the Moulton Paddocks conditioner will be hoping to get off the mark before the weekend rolls around again. He sends forth a team of three on Thursday, with TDN Rising Star Maho Bay (Dubawi) in the G3 Hampton Court Stakes, Into The Light (Dubawi) in the King George V Handicap and Tales Of Wisdom (Blue Point) in the Britannia Handicap.Sean CroninThe post Five Things To Look Out For On Thursday At Royal Ascot appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.