Day One at Royal Ascot wasn’t a great day for the column. The NAP landed, when Paddington hacked up in the feature, but Bring On The Night got trapped and Cuban Thunder was never involved. But Royal Ascot is very much a marathon and Day Two should start to turn the tide.
Scroll down for Selections on all seven races, live on ITV Racing and Sky Sports Racing.
MOORE MOORE MOORE
NAP: Prince of Wales’s Stakes (GROUP ONE) – LUXEMBOURG @ 9/4 (10Bet, Boylesports, BetUK)
A treble for Ryan Moore yesterday took his total winners at the Royal meeting to 76 yesterday, after an astonishing treble on River Tiber, Paddington and Vauban. A £1 treble would have paid out £15.20, which shows the pull of the almost-40-year-old jockey. Today he rides Luxembourg, who’s been tipped in my Four To Follow column, when he won the Tattersalls Gold Cup. He led all the way, fending off Bay Bridge in the latter stages and there’s nothing to say he can do it again from stall one on the round course.
Keep an eye out for Mostahdaf, who is unbeaten off a 50+ day break, and is making his UK reappearance, and seems to have a good draw on the wide outside in draw six. Both Jim Crowley and the Gosdens’ seem to have gone under in terms of winners, but this horse has to have been strategically aimed at this race, and is Group One level with a rating of 121, 2lbs lower than Luxembourg. Completely the wrong price at 20/1 (General).
A ROYAL ROGUE
E/W BET: Duke of Cambridge Stakes (Group Two) – Rogue Millennium @ 12/1 (Betfred)
I like Prosperous Voyage, and there is much debate about what the ground will be by 3:40 in the afternoon. Prosperous Voyage loves the firm ground, but any cut and she’s vulnerable. Given Ascot had a storm yesterday, it puts me off her. The next best rated is Rogue Millennium. She’s had decent form figures since the turn of the new season, 232, narrowly beaten at York last time out on the firm ground. She won’t mind the ground, and Group Two is at her true level and she’ll give Jumbly a true test on the straight track.
AN INTELLOGENT BET
Handicap Best: Royal Hunt Cup (Heritage H’cap) – Intellogent @ 8/1 (Unibet, 10Bet, Betfred, William Hill)
Perotto is the favourite, and every punter has said in every preview ‘Perotto is my bet of the week.’ Well, well done tipsters he’s now 7/1. So, it tempts me to look elsewhere. I looked underneath Perotto in the betting and Intellogent stood out. Ran a stormer last year off 105, and lost by half a length. He’s rated 104 this and that mark that makes him appealing; he’s versatile on all grounds; and, he’s drawn one off the stand side rail in 31. James Doyle has a nice 26% strike rate to back it up.
Ghaly also caught the eye. Not just in the formbook, but when I saw him in person at York last year. He kept on in a four-runner handicap at York, beating Blue For You by a neck, which was his second run off a massive break. He then beat King Of Conquest, and the race threw up great formlines. He’s on the other side f the track in stall eight, but Saeed bin Suroor had hit a sweet spot, and Oisin Murphy is always eye-catching. Next best at 10/1 (William Hill)
Chasing Aphrodite also gave off good each-way vibes. Won the trial for this race at the Trials meeting, and the handicapper has raised him four pounds for a length-and-a-half win. Versatile ground-wise, with wins on Good and Good-to-firm ground and Hayley Turner always turns up at Royal Ascot. Prepare for an excitable Ed Chamberlain if Hayley’s victorious. Decent claims at 16/1 (William Hill)
One more for the Hunt Cup, and Dunum represents good Irish form. Narrowly beaten when favourite in the Emerald Mile, but has been consistent throughtou his career. 1111212 read his form figures and a 4lbs rise will mean nothing to him, having defied 6lb and 9lbs rises before. Bookies have the main Irish raider at 14/1 (10Bet, William Hill, BetUK)
