The horse racing broadcaster offers up his selections for every race on Day 3 of Royal Ascot.
The middle and feature day of the week with the Gold Cup as the centrepiece.
14:30 Chesham Stakes 7f Listed 2-year-old
Given their domination of the middle distance division, it is little surprise that Aidan O’Brien has won this race, where the sire has to have won over 9/12f or over, no less than seven times. His runners are however always well found in the market as the overall record of 7/31 A/E 0.93 shows. When looking elsewhere the form patterns of the Charlie Johnston horses give a clue as to why PIKACHU 20/1 (14:30 Ascot) is worth supporting. Johnston saddles three in the race with the other pair, Sword Salute and Time For The Moon, both having form figures of 31 which displays a trend common with the stable’s juveniles – namely that they improve for a run. The well bred Pikachu forced Alfred Wallace (runs in the Windsor Castle on Wednesday) to pull out all the stops, with the pair clear of the very green Whispering Moon who also lines up here, on his debut at Thirsk. If he makes the usual progression from that he looks over the odds.
15:05 King George V Handicap 3-year-old 1m 4f
As the Wolferton on Tuesday showed races on the Round Course can be messy affairs and whilst there is a longer run to the first bend over 1m 4f, it is the home bend where runners rushing up on the outside can create considerable traffic problems for those tracking the pace on the inner. Stall 10 therefore looks a decent berth for Ralph Beckett’s TIERRA DEL TORO 7/1 (15:05 Ascot) who looked as if the step up in trip would suit well on his reappearance at Newbury, a fact that placed him on the shopping list of Wathnan in whose colours he races in for the first time. Beckett has twice saddled the winner of this race in recent seasons in Surefire (2021) and Going The Distance (2024), and granted luck in running Tierra Del Toro can give him the hat trick.
15:40 Ribblesdale Group 2 1m 4f Fillies
LEGACY LINK 13/8 (15:40 Ascot) is the clear form pick here, the main concern being whether she will have got over her Oaks exertions just 13 days ago. It is a path Gosden has walked before with six horses turning up in the Ribblesdale after running in the Oaks, two of them, Michita 2008 and Coronet 2013 winning. Neither of them ran as well in the Oaks as Legacy Link but with four of the six achieving better RPR figures at Ascot than Epsom, there is not enough evidence of failing to back up to take on the clear form pick. Legacy Link has progressed with each run of her career and this years Oaks looks well up to scratch, so the niece of Frankel and Noble Mission can add to the family’s good Ascot record.
16:15 Gold Cup Group 1 2m 4f
After Kyprios retired the mantle of leading stayer was passed to Trawlerman who had spent the previous couple of seasons chasing his tail. This time the crown may be about to return to Ballydoyle through SCANDINAVIA 13/8 (16:15 Ascot), the winner of last season’s Leger. Cheekpieces were fitted after his defeat here in the Queens Vase last season and he has never looked back since. His wins are typified by never doing much more than is necessary so he will rarely impress in the trials, but this trip should draw out even more of his main attribute, the ability to dig in and keep battling.
16.50 Britannia Handicap 1m 3-year-old
The big handicap of the day is the Britannia where OUTBACK HEAT’s 10/1 (16:50 Ascot) proven ability at the track counts in his favour. He won here on his handicap debut, on just his third career start, and a 6lb rise does not look unreasonable given the fourth and fifth won next time out, and being drawn in stall 18 of 30 allows Kaiya Fraser to keep his options open. It is just a second Royal Ascot mount for the rider but on his only other one he finished second on Divine Comedy in the Ascot Stakes and his overall record at the track is 2/10, including when partnering this horse here to win in May. Five of the stables nine previous runners in Royal Ascot handicaps prior to this season made the first three and in an obviously tricky contest he has plenty going for him.
17:35 Hampton Court Stakes 1m 2f Group 3 3-year-old
Avoiding a penalty and hence receiving weight from Oxagon looks the deciding factor here in siding with ENDORSEMENT 9/4 (17:35 Ascot), who drops back to 10f but could well get his own way out in front which given the messy nature of races over this trip could be a significant advantage even in this smaller field. His recent runs have seemed to be as much about setting it up for higher profile stable mates like Pierre Bonard and Christmas Day, to whom he was second in the Ballysax and it is difficult to see which of his rivals would sacrifice their own chances by pestering him up front.
18:10 Buckingham Palace Stakes 7f Handicap
Another big field straight course handicap where DANCE IN THE STORM 10/1 (18:10 Ascot) should find ground conditions more to his liking than at Epsom, where his keen demeanour counted against him lasting home. His Chester victory has worked out well and he has twice placed in big field handicaps at Goodwood and York last season. The stable know the family well and sire Night of Thunder had a double on the first day of the meeting on Tuesday. He will be committed to the far side coming out of stall 2 with the only obvious pace being River King in stall 14, who rates a major danger as a result.
Visit Betway’s horse racing betting page.
