The Saturday of Royal Ascot is here and I’m going to start by taking a look at the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (15:40). It’s an open but competitive renewal, with a few in there with good chances. Inisherin sets the standard for the home team. He won his trial at York very impressively and won at this meeting last year. Considering Kevin Ryan said he wasn’t 100% at York, you’d expect him to come forward and the fast ground won’t be an issue. The Japanese raider, Satono Reve, is also very interesting. I saw him gallop at the July Course last week and he looked ultra impressive. You know his connections haven’t come over here for the fresh air, and I think he could be a pretty tough nut to crack.
The Chesham (14:30) kicks off Saturday’s action and Godolphin send Treanmor here. He looked good when winning first time out, but the form has taken some knocks, and I think it’ll pay to side with Aidan O’Brien’s Moments Of Joy. O’Brien has smashed it out of the park with his juveniles this week and I think she’ll be their fourth two-year-old winner of the week.
The Hardwicke (15:05) doesn’t look the strongest race of the week and I’d say Rebel’s Romance is the one they have to beat. He’s been a real globe-trotting star for Godolphin and if he’s on his best form he might be hard to catch. However, the one I’d pick out against him would be the veteran Al Aasy to show the younger guns how it’s done. He’s an eight-year-old, but he’s not been overly raced, and as a course-and-distance winner, I think he could spring a small surprise.
The Jersey (16:20) is always a tough race to win and this year’s renewal looks like just that. However, there’s one horse who really stands out to me in the shape of Marvelman. He won on his three-year-old debut at Kempton where he put in a serious time figure in the process. He backed that run up with a fine second to the very talented Cosmic Year at Newmarket next time out, so if he can step forward again, he could be hard to beat.
The Wokingham (17:00) is a typically open sprint handicap at Royal Ascot and I was gutted when my best ride of the week, Invictus Gold, didn’t get in. Of those who did, William Haggas’ More Thunder looks the likeliest winner. He’s lightly raced with two wins from two starts this season and he could be about to win another big handicap. One at a much bigger price would be Twilight Calls. He’s moved to Richard Spencer’s yard, and he might have just dropped to a rating where he could outrun his odds.
All the best,
Neil