We fired in a 25/1 winner on Day 1, my 2025 Royal Ascot Wednesday tips are below.
2.30 – Queen Mary Stakes (Group 2)
A nice and easy start to the day with a 25 runner race for
2yo fillies. The one I am interested in here at around 16/1 is the Fozzy Stack
trained filly, Cardiff By The Sea. This daughter of St Mark’s Basilica was
thrown in at the deep end on debut at Naas.
She took on a talented Ballydoyle colt who had won his
maiden by almost 6l at Navan on his previous start and he is now 13/8 for the Norfolk.
Cardiff By The Sea kept the 1/14fav honest, and while she was beaten over 3l in
the end, she should improve massively for that initial experience.
Her pedigree suggests that she is the type for Royal Ascot
too. Her half-bother, Al Qudra, was beaten just a length in the Coventry Stakes
last year and is now rated 110. Her dam won a 5f Listed race as a 2yo too, so
she is bred to be a smart 2yo and the booking of Oisin Murphy also catches the
eye.
With four places on offer, Cardiff By The Sea is worth
backing e/w at odds of 16/1.
2025 Royal Ascot Wednesday Tip: Cardiff By The Sea e/w @
16/1 (4 places) NB
3.05 – Queen’s Vase (Group 2)
This looks a pretty open renewal. Of those at the top of the
market Paddy Twomey’s unbeaten Wootton Bassett colt Carmers probably has the
most solid profile as he is already a 1m5f winner at listed level and another
furlong shouldn’t pose any problems.
Quite a few will need to improve plenty for the step up to
1m6f and after he produced a career best upped to 1m4f on his last start at
Leopardstown, perhaps Titanium Emperor will improve even further for the extra
two furlongs here.
Unraced at two, this son of Night Of Thunder had previously
raced exclusively at a mile. He won his debut at Dundalk impressively at that
distance and he wasn’t disgraced in a 1m listed race at Newcastle on his second
start.
Last time out he stepped up to 1m4f and after getting a
shade outpaced, he ran on pretty takingly in the final furlong to finish fourth,
4l behind the winner Zahrann who is 8/1 for the King Edward VII stakes. On that
evidence this trip is definitely worth a go and while his pedigree may say
otherwise, sometimes you just have to trust your eye. At odds of 66/1 a small
e/w interest on Titanium Emperor is advised.
2025 Royal Ascot Wednesday Tip: Titanium Emperor e/w @ 66/1
3.40 – Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (Group 2)
This has the look of a race that will be dominated by the
horses at the top of the market. We backed Fallen Angel on her seasonal return
at Newbury last month and while she didn’t win or place, it was a run full of promise
and I was hoping she’d go for a G1 on her next start so we’d get a decent
price for her again. However, Karl Burke has gone for an easier option and she could
be the one to be on.
Cinderella’s Dream returned from a winter break in Dubai with
a dominant win at Newmarket and she, along with One Look, look the main
dangers. Last year’s winner Running Lion can’t be discounted either dropped
back to a mile.
The French raider Start of Day could go well at a price
returned to quick ground but he needs to improve a chunk to be competitive with
the top rated ones in here. I am going to leave her alone and just watch this
race, there’s plenty more opportunities throughout the week. No bet.
2025 Royal Ascot Wednesday Tip: No Bet
4.20 – Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Group 1)
Anmaat and Los Angeles renew rivalries in this 1m2f Group 1
after their thrilling tussle in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh. Anmaat
travelled like a dream throughout the race and when he drew upsides the
Ballydoyle horse, it looked a case of how far he would win by, but Los Angeles dug
deep and found more and repelled the challenge of the Burrow horse by half a
length.
Anmaat did beat Los Angeles in the Champion Stakes here last
year but that was on soft ground. He handles quicker conditions fine but whether
he has the willingness to knuckle down for a dogfight like Los Angeles has is
the burning question. On what we saw at the Curragh, you’d have to fancy Los
Angeles to uphold the form.
Overpriced
The overpriced one in here is, without a doubt, Royal
Champion. Karl Burke’s son of Shamardal has yet to race on good to firm but his
best form is on good so he should relish quick conditions. He finished fourth
in a 10f Sandown G2 in April on his return from a couple of months off and he
was only 1.5l behind the winner Al Aasy.
Just ahead of him in third was Almaqam, and he won a G3
easily on his next start. See The Fire was 0.5l behind Royal Champion in fifth in
receipt of 6lb, she is only getting 3lb here yet Royal Champion is over ten
times her price. Now, she did admittedly win a G2 easily at York since but Royal
Champion is also entitled to come on for that run and another plus is that he
won the Wolferton over C&D last year.
Obviously, the top two in the market are the ones to beat
but there isn’t much between the rest of them so at odds of 66/1, Royal
Champion is the each way selection.
2025 Royal Ascot Wednesday Tip: Royal Champion e/w @ 66/1
5.00 – Royal Hunt Cup Handicap (Heritage)
The one I am interested in for this year’s Royal Hunt Cup is
the Kevin Ryan trained Hi Royal. This gelding boasted some extremely smart form
as a 3yo. He was beaten just 1.75l by Chaldean in the 2000 Guineas when a 125/1
shot and he proved that was no fluke with a 2.75l third in the Irish version
three weeks later.
Unfortunately, the son of Kodiac somewhat lost his way after
that Irish Guineas run. He did show some of his old spark on his seasonal
reappearance in the G3 Earl Of Sefton Stakes (9f, good) last year but again,
his form tailed off.
At the end of last season he was gelded and he reappeared in
the Thirsk Hunt Cup, running off a mark of 102 on his handicap debut. He ran a
stormer behind Flight Plan, taking a while to get going but running on strongly
up the inside to get second, 0.5l behind the winner.
The handicapper has given him a 2lb rise for that, which is
fair, and I am hoping that he’ll be able to back that up on just his second handicap
start. His overall profile suggests that is not a given but hopefully the
gelding operation will help him become a more consistent horse. Billy Loughnane
is 4/24 with 12 top 4 finishes for this owner, hopefully he can steer Hi Royal
into the money at odds of 22/1.
2025 Royal Ascot Wednesday Tip: Hi Royal e/w @ 22/1 (6 places)
5.35 – Kensington Palace Stakes Handicap (Class 2)
We backed Julia Augusta last year when she ran a cracker at
this meeting in the G2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes. She was only beaten 4.75l by
Running Lion but she lost her way in the second part of the season.
David O’Meara lowered her sights on her seasonal reappearance
at Epsom twelve days ago, pitching her into a handicap. Running off 97,
she ran a fine race to finish third despite racing keenly and she should
improve plenty for that first run for 205 days.
The assessor has left her mark alone and on her run here last
year (and her G3 third at Epsom) she is surely capable of making an impact off
this rating. Danny Tudhope takes the ride, quick ground is fine and at odds of
20/1, Julia Augusta is the each way selection.
2025 Royal Ascot Wednesday Tip: Julia Augusta e/w @ 20/1 (6 places) NAP
6.10 – Windsor Castle Stakes (Listed)
Jonny Portman is enjoying a bit of a purple patch at the
moment and his son of Galileo Gold, Gorey Gold, could go well for him at a
price in this 5f listed sprint. After a promising fifth on debut in a class 2
maiden at Windsor (6f, gd-fm) last month, he absolutely hacked up dropped back
to 5.5f at Bath two weeks later.
This gelding hasn’t got the most illustrious of pedigrees but
he clearly has a fair amount of ability and he could be very well suited by a strongly
run race over a stiff five furlongs. This is obviously a big step up in class
against some well-bred sorts from powerful stables but that Bath run was impressive
and he deserves a shot at this type of race.
Portman has had five winners from his last sixteen runners, hopefully
Gorey Gold can make his presence felt for him here at odds of 28/1.
2025 Royal Ascot Wednesday Tip: Gorey Gold e/w @ 28/1 (4
places)
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