Ascot Day 3
Norfolk Stakes
The Norfolk Stakes is a top quality group two event which is run over a stiff five furlongs and is only open to thoroughbred two year olds. This years race should be highly contested even though the O’Brien Horse Coach House goes off favourite it would not be a shock to see any one of these horses run a top quality race. Coach House does certainly look to be the horse in form and with O’Brien as his trainer it would not be a surprise to see him improve upon a classy win at the Curragh over five furlongs on the 25th of May. That form has been franked by the second horse ,Club Wexford, who has since won a decent maiden at Leopardstown over seven furlongs, you can get yourself 3/1 at the moment on the favourite and it would surprise me if we don’t see him go off around 2/1. Richard Hannon has a couple of runners in the race with the preference being for Coulsty (6/1) who was a very impressive winner at Leicester last time out….. He should go close today. If you are looking for a horse at big prices that might be improving then you can’t overlook Royal Mezyan (20/1), he was beaten by Ifwecan over 5 furlongs at Ascot but he may have needed that run and certainly improved on his second outing, beaten only one and quarter lengths by a very useful horse at York in a time that was classified as fast by 0.11s.
Ribblesdale Stakes
In my mind there is only one horse in this race, Alive Alive Oh (11/4) ran an absolute blinder at Navan over 10 furlongs on May 7th beating a very useful horse (Magical Dream) by over six lengths. The Ribblesdale is run over 12 furlongs but Alive Alive Oh didn’t look like he was stopping at Navan that day and surely a repeat of that performance would see him go very close. A horse that could be good value for money at this stage would be Gertrude Versed (25/1), this Gosden trained filly finished well back in the Investec Oaks but in a less competitive race, at a track that might suit her a bit better, she might be worth consideration as a place contender.
The Ascot Gold Cup
The Gold Cup is a group one race that is run over 20 furlongs. O’Brien has won this race five out of the last seven outings but he only enters one horse on this occasion, El Salvador (33/1) is a very useful horse but he has never run over course or distance and his previous outings might leave him with a little to find in a race of this quality. Preference instead goes with Rite of Passage (6/1), a Dermot Weld horse who has proven form at Ascot in top class races, he does have a nine month layoff to overcome but he runs extremely well fresh and if he can repeat his form from Ascot last October he must be thereabouts. Saddler’s Rock (8/1) is another to consider, although he finished nearly four lengths behind Rite of Passage in October he has had the benefit of a recent run in a top quality race at Meydan where he did not disgrace himself finishing just four and half lengths behind a very useful horse.
The Britannia Stakes
Stick a pin in your newspaper for this type of race! With thirty runners still entered in this class two handicap over a mile it will not be easy to pick the winner. No matter what horse you pick he will need to get a break at some point and this race might be one to avoid from a bettors perspective. However as always I do have some opinions. Mark Johnston enters a couple in this race, Maputo (10/1) has come on leaps and bounds from his sole two year old start and should be thereabouts if he gets the breaks. Another horse that is worth considering is Clive Cox’s Haafaguinea (18/1), this horse finished third, less than a length behind The Gold Cheongsam, in the Weatherbys Insurance stakes on his last start as a two year old and while his first run back as a three year old was not as impressive he still won that race and may have needed the outing. If you twisted my arm Haafaguinea at 18/1 might be worth a very small each way punt but again always remember that in a race of this size you will always need the breaks to win!
Offers!
If you are considering a spread bet at Royal Ascot we have a bonus SP offer on all 50 indices; if you buy any horse on a 50 win index and if it wins we’ll add its starting price to the 50 points it gets for winning; each day we be offering a popular market “spread free” until the first race and this will be Starting Prices for Thursday.
