Buckingham Palace Handicap will return for first time since 2014 and eight races are scheduled for final SaturdayThe stands will be empty but, in terms of the action on the track, this year’s Royal Ascot will be bigger than ever, six races having been added to a heavily revised running order for the event, due to begin on 16 June. Racing insiders praised the changes, designed to give chances to as many horses and therefore owners as possible, and to fit in with the unusual timing of this year’s Classic races. Related: Talking Horses: Wesley Ward to send horses but not people to Royal Ascot F*** Me! If this doesn’t get you excited then nothing will. https://t.co/nebGpFw8SuRoyal Ascot really does...
With a payout in excess of the jockey’s Magnificent Seven on the cards at the Royal meeting, the big firms did no one a favour by refusing multiplesThere were some memorable and historic achievements at Royal Ascot last week, including Hayley Turner’s win on Thanks Be in the Sandringham, the first at the meeting for a female jockey since 1987, and Blue Point’s Group One double in the week’s big sprints.But everything else pales into insignificance when set against Frankie Dettori’s remarkable afternoon on Thursday, when he won the first four races including the Gold Cup and left the bookies staring at a potential payout for a Dettori six-timer which would have far exceeded the £30m for his “Magnificent Seven”...
The Tin Man (4.20), who took Saturday’s main prize in 2017 and was a marginally unlucky fourth last year, looks the value to take the last big race at the royal meetingAn international field assembles for the big race on Royal Ascot’s closing card, the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, in which Blue Point tries to add to his victory here on Tuesday. The French raider City Light and Bound From Nowhere, from the US, are to be feared, while other contenders have also travelled from Singapore and New Zealand.But all may struggle to match a horse whose home is just two hours up the road at Newmarket. The Tin Man (4.20) took this prize in 2017 and was a marginally unlucky...
The selection has a lot of speed and can be seen to better effect on this ground than when floundering in the French GuineasHermosa seeks to complete the Guineas/Irish Guineas/Coronation Stakes hat-trick that was achieved by her stablemate Winter just two years ago, and there is every reason to expect a big run from Aidan O’Brien’s likeable filly. But the opposition here looks a step up on what she has faced and the available odds take little account of that.Castle Lady, the unbeaten French Guineas winner, is a big danger while, at 16-1, there could be plenty of value in Watch Me (4.20) from the Francis Graffard yard that won Sunday’s French Oaks. Watch Me did not look comfortable on...
The selection can outclass Dee Ex Bee and Cross Counter, whose globetrotting exploits, while impressive, still leave him something to prove hereSome interesting new opponents line up against Stradivarius in this Gold Cup, suggesting the chestnut is still seen as beatable in some quarters. This is hard to fathom. As he has shown repeatedly over the last two years, he is an exceptional stayer and can prove it with a second success in Royal Ascot’s feature race.Versatile as to ground and increasingly hard to outbattle, Stradivarius (4.20) has the right men around him to make the most of his exuberant talent. He can outclass Dee Ex Bee and Cross Counter, whose globetrotting exploits, while impressive, still leave him something to...