Royal Ascot Day 2 Tips

Well, we didn’t manage to find a winner on Day 1 but a couple of places with Profitable at 16s and Thunder Snow at 14s ensured it wasn’t a total write off. The undoubted star performer on the day was Lady Aurelia in the King’s Stand, and the filly took full advantage of all the allowances to score impressively.

The biggest flops were Churchill and Declarationofpeace, and Aidan O’Brien will be looking to hit back on Day 2. American Patriot ran no sort of race for us, but I thought the Ivan Furtado filly in the last showed a bit of promise and she will be of interest when upped in trip. I have already posted tips for three races which you can read by clicking here, and you can read my thoughts on the remaining races below.

Jim Bolger looks to have a good chance with Bean Feasa.

Queen Mary Stakes

As we saw with Lady Aurelia in the King’s Stand Wesley Ward knows how to train a sprinter and she won this race last season, Ward’s second Queen Mary win in a row. He has been waxing lyrical about his filly in this year’s renewal too, and Ryan Moore has been booked for the ride on 5/4 favourite Happy Like A Fool. This daughter of Distorted Humour hacked up over 4.5f on debut at Keeneland and she is difficult to oppose.

However, one that could give her a run for her money is the William Jarvis trained debut course and distance winner Mrs Gallagher. This Oasis Dream filly showed a good attitude to score on her first outing and the race has produced winners. The ground was quick too, so conditions hold no fears for her on Wednesday. Silvestre De Sousa has been booked and I think she is worth chancing each way at odds of 16/1.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: 15.05-MRS GALLAGHER E/W @ 16/1

Prince Of Wales’s Stakes

Only 8 go to post in this high quality 10f Group 1 and Highland Reel is the current market leader at odds of 11/4. However, a case can be made for quite a few in this field and even the 40/1 rag Johannes Vermeer has won a Group 1 in the past. The one I like at a half decent price is the Roger Charlton trained colt Decorated Knight who comes here after an impressive win at the Curragh 10.5f yld).

This 5yo son of Galileo has improved markedly since moving from Roger Varian to Charlton and from an opening official rating of 85 he has improved over 30lbs and is now rated 118. That lofty rating is justified too, as he has won 4 of his last 5 starts including two at Group 1 level. He still has a bit to find with Jack Hobbs and Highland Reel, but I think he could well improve again and at odds of 8/1 he is the each way selection in a cracker of a race.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: 16.20-DECORATED KNIGHT E/W @ 8/1

Sandringham Handicap

This listed contest is for 3yo fillies only and 24 go to post in a wide open looking renewal. Master trainer Jim Bolger has decided to go down the handicap route with his Group 3 winning filly Bean Feasa, and we think that may well prove to be a wise decision. This filly was badly hampered in the Irish 1000 Guineas behind Winter and the fact that Bolger ran her in that race suggests that he thinks a lot of this daughter of Dubawi.

Her previous run when slamming Asking by over 2L at Leopardstown (8f gd/fm) in a Group 3 would put her right in the mix here, and I think the handicapper has given her a real chance off a mark of 102. That was her only run so far on proper good to firm ground, and she will relish conditions at Ascot tomorrow. It took her a while to get going at Leopardstown and I think a fast run race at Ascot could bring out the best in her. She can be backed at odds of 22/1 and she looks well worth chancing each way.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: BEAN FEASA E/W @ 22/1