The horse racing broadcaster offers up his picks for every race on Day 2 of Royal Ascot.
Large fields are the order of the day on Day 2 with the current 142 slated runners the most for over 30 years.
14:30 Queen Mary Group 2 5f 2-year-old Fillies
Something likely has to give here on the stats front as the two most successful trainers in the race, Karl Burke (2/12 A/E 1,67) and Wesley Ward (4/17 A/E 1.47), both have other less favourable stats to overcome. Burke saddles WILD BLOSSOM 6/1 (14:30 Ascot) who having been purchased from the Breeze Ups, showed push button acceleration to win at Carlisle where the stable often introduce decent juveniles (45/162 A/E 1.36) and she won the same race Venetian Sun won before her success in the Albany last year.
The stat she has to bust is a strange one in that her sire Mehmas is 0/76 with runners at Royal Ascot, which given his decent reputation as a sire is a bit of an outlier. She will also encounter very different ground to Carlisle where the ground was clearly soft even though it was not officially adjusted until later on in the card. Ruiva is the Wesley Ward representative and underfoot conditions will be different for her as well as she won on dirt at Keeneland on her debut. The concern here is her sire Munnings is 1/46 with turf runners in the UK and Ireland, though Kimari did place second in both this and the Commonwealth Cup for the stable having also made her debut on dirt. Of the two, Wild Blossom gets the vote on the grounds that her form is a bit easier to assess in comparison to her rivals than a US juvenile race on dirt!
15:05 Queens Vase 1m 6f Group 2 3-year-old
A respite from the large fields and one of the best bets on the card in the progressive LIMESTONE 3/1 (15:05 Ascot) for Joseph O’Brien. He got a well judged ride at Navan last time, his rider allowing him to drift back as others pressed on before proving very strong at the finish over 1m 5f and he should be able to confirm the form with Asakir He looks a very straight forward ride, will stay, and can show his credentials to be a leading St Leger candidate here. Very much the one to beat and my personal nap of the week.
15:40 Duke of Cambridge 1m (Str) Group 2 Fillies and Mares
BLUE BOLT 5/2 (15:40 Ascot) looks the one to beat here after a solid victory in Listed company at Goodwood on her return to action. She gave away first run to the second horse Kon Tiki that day in a race that developed into a 3f sprint so was value for more than the winning margin. She had ended last season with an excellent second in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes where she was ahead of Cathedral who rates one of her major dangers here. She did remarkably well to last home as well as she did after sitting too close to a blazing pace in the Dahlia at Newmarket, where she was picked off by Jancis. Blue Bolt is very progressive and seems versatile as to the ground, and with the very keen Falakeyah likely to set the pace things should set up for better than they did at Goodwood.
16:20 Prince of Wales’s Stakes 1m 2f Group 1 4-year-old and +
The big clash on Day 2 is between last year’s winner Ombudsman and Arc winner DARYZ 7/4 (16:20 Ascot), whom connections have been happy to drop down in trip with this season. Ombudsman was well suited by a very strong pace last year and even though he proved himself a smart performer at York later on that season, he may have more on his plate here with Daryz whose performances in the Ganay and Prix Aga Khan (formerly the D’Ispahan) have shown he can cope well with 10f. The one slight caveat with all French horses at Ascot is they can find the ground faster than they have encountered before and that is the main concern.
17:00 Royal Hunt Cup 1m Handicap (Straight)
A couple of the placed horses from last year’s Balmoral look over priced in EBT’S GUARD 33/1 (17:00 Ascot) and Holloway Boy. Both race off a couple of lbs higher but such is the compacted nature of this handicaps, with only a stone covering the whole field, the task of those off the highest marks may be a lot easier. They are drawn on opposite sides of the track and it is probably the best strategy just to split stakes between the pair. EBT’S Guard career form at Ascot reads 3100132 and he ran well at Newbury last time. Holloway Boy first rose to prominence with a bang at this meeting in 2022 when he became the first juvenile in over 25 years to win at Royal Ascot on his debut when landing the Chesham at 40-1. His track stats read 145022 and Jack Nicholls has been booked to take 5lb off. In terms of making a single selection the larger price tilts the scales in favour of EBT’S Guard.
17:35 Kensington Palace 1m Handicap (Straight)
It could be worth remembering that MISS NIGHTFALL 11/1 (17:35 Ascot) was sent off favourite for this race last year and lines up off exactly the same mark this time around at a double figure price. Her mark suffered post Ascot for finishing close up in Group race at Doncaster and she was rather in the ‘Twilight Zone’ between Group races and Handicaps for the second half of the season. Now back at the mark of last year she can make her presence felt.
18:10 Windsor Castle 6f 2-year-old Listed
A new look to the race this year with an increase in trip and a qualifying criteria for the sire, so past history is of minimal use. ALFRED WALLACE 16/1 (18:10 Ascot) like many from the yard progressed well from his debut when landing a run of the mill maiden at Thirsk over 7f, but had shown some promise behind Night In Vegas (runs in the Coventry on Tuesday) here at Ascot and the fact he will stay the trip well could be useful off the likely strong gallop. His dam won the Falmouth and was second in the Coronation Stakes at the Royal meeting, and being by Dubawi he certainly has an eye catching pedigree to accompany his dashing grey looks.
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