Royal Ascot Day 3 Tips

We got our first winner of the meeting on the board today with Qemah winning impressively for France. She travelled like the best horse in the race and she held on well in the closing stages. Decorated Knight ran a cracking race to reward each way support in 2nd, chasing home Highland Reel. Nothing went right for Glastonbury Song in the prelims and he ran no sort of race.

Tamleek should be suited by the drop back to 10f.

Bossy Guest wasn’t given the best of rides by De Sousa in the Hunt Cup and I was gutted with that run as I really fancied him. Bean Feasa was drawn on the wrong side, and she looked like she might get involved at one point but she faded disappointingly in the end. Below are my thoughts on what should be another thrilling day of action on Day 3. You can see my selections for the other three races on Day 3 by clicking here. 

Hampton Court Stakes

I tipped up Mirage Dancer ante-post for the Derby and I really think he will be suited by 12f. He skipped Epsom to come here, and I think 10f around here might be a bit sharp for him. The one I like in this is the Saeed Bin Suroor trained Tamleek, a horse who was 4th behind Venice Beach and Wings Of Eagles last time at Chester over 12f when he just didn’t seem to get home.

He had previously made a big impression when winning a 10f maiden as he liked at Newmarket, sauntering clear and beating a few next time out winners by 4L. The ground was quick that day and he will love the underfoot conditions at Ascot after a scorching day on Wednesday. His pedigree suggests this will be his optimum trip, as does his form, and at odds of 9/1 I think he looks a rock solid each way bet.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: 15.05-TAMLEEK E/W @ 9/1 NAP

Gold Cup

The feature race on Day 3 is the Gold Cup, a 20f Group 1 that a horse needs serious stamina to win. Last year’s victor Order Of St George is a warm order to make it two in a row and he comes into the race in great form after a 14f Listed win at Leopardstown last month (gd/fm). He was beaten in a Group 3 by Torcedor at Navan on his seasonal comeback, again over 14f on good but he was likely to have needed that and it is hard to see Torcedor repeating the dose over this trip.

One horse that looks like he is crying out for a crack at this trip is the unexposed Charlie Fellowes horse Prince Of Arran, and it is hard to believe he is as big as 40/1 after a lovely run here behind Sweet Selection last time (16f gd/fm). This 4yo son of Shirocco has stayed on strongly over 2 miles on his last two starts and he looks well worth a shot at 20f. Order Of St George will be tough to beat, but for each way players I think Prince Of Arran could outrun his odds and sneak a place.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: 16.20-Prince Of Arran e/w @ 40/1

Britannia Handicap

As the results in the two big field handicaps on the straight course on Wednesday demonstrated it has paid to be drawn high this week. Horses drawn low have struggled to land a blow and for this reason I am going to stick with a horse that is drawn high in the Britannia. Keyser Soze is a horse that has improved massively this season, and his trainer Richard Spencer had a brilliant 2yo win earlier this week.

Keyser Soze first caught my eye on his final two runs of last season in valuable 2yo races at Newmarket and especially Doncaster where he ran huge races to be beaten just over 4L in both contests over 6f, doing all his best work at the finish. He was put away after his Newmarket effort and he won a maiden easily at Thirsk upped to 7f on his first run back of the season. He followed that up with a smooth success on handicap debut at Kempton off 83 and he is now up to a mark of 93. There are milers in his pedigree so the new trip should hold no fears and at odds of 11/1 he is worth backing e/w from a good draw in stall 31.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: KEYSER SOZE E/W @ 11/1