Royal Ascot
Well, Royal Ascot is over for another year, personally, I don’t really bet as it’s hard to find an angle but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the top-class racing that’s on offer over the five-day meeting, specially the 2-year-old races, of course, then we had the legend himself Frankie Dettori firing in six winners including riding the amazing Stradivarius who completed a hattrick of Gold Cups in spectacular fashion for trainer John Gosden. I know it was a bit different this year with the virus but I thought it was a tremendous job done by everyone involved but hopefully next year we will return to normality.
Reviews
Just two trackers over the weekend and both didn't disappoint, first was the Richard Hannon filly Top Class Angel who ventured into handicap company for the first time. A huge drift seen her go off at 18/1 and to be honest, I thought my each-way betting slip was heading straight in the bin, anyway, the Dark Angel filly came with a late rattle to sneak third place, I should be happy with that but I’m still sure she has more to offer next timeout. The next tracker was the John Gosden Dubawi colt Almighwar who ran on Sunday. Considering he disappointed first time out last year when finishing tenth at Newmarket a starting price of 11/8 was a little skinny but the well-bred newcomer got the hang of things late on and stormed clear to win easily.
Previews
12:45 Beverley 23 Jun 2020
Interested to see Bomb Proof back out again after a 400 plus day absence. The 100,000 gns purchase at the October 2018 Yearling Sales has his first run for new trainer James Fanshawe after previously being with Jeremy Noseda. The Society Rock colt I imagine won’t be much of a price after an impressive debut at York last May but even so, I will be watching closely and hoping he still has the ability after such a long lay off.
19:55 Thu 25 June 2020 Leicester
One tracker I have been waiting for a while for is the Richard Hannon Sea The Stars colt Lost Eden. Out of Godolphin filly Ghostflower who only raced twice in a short career back in 2012 when placed both times. A 120,000 euro foal rising to a 200,000 euro yearling back in 2018, Lost Eden was well-thought-of by trainer Richard Hannon last year and whatever he does first time out I'm sure he will improve for the run and hopefully be a nice horse for the Hannon team this season.
14:10 Fri 26 June 2020 Newmarket
Zoffarelli has an early entry for the Newmarket Maiden Stakes race for Ralph Beckett. The Zoffany colt is a 60,000 gns purchase for owners Mrs. M.E.Slade, Mr. B.Ohlsson & Partner who also owns the promising Ralph Beckett trained colt Lucander. Mare Genuine Quality only raced seven times for Ed Vaughan, her highlight being a third in a Listed race back in 2013. Market check needed on debut.
Thanks for reading and good luck.
Reviews:
It was a case of the early bird catches the worm with a couple of my winning trackers last weekend. Lord Campari was available at 9/2 the night before the race at Newbury but you had to be quick, I missed out by minutes getting 100/30 and ended up with 11/4 but was happy in the end as it shortened again to 15/8 in what was an impressive performance by the Roger Varian trained winner.
The result was never in doubt after the Kingman colt broke smartly and made all to win easily from John Gosden's Tsar back in second.
My other tracker Turaath ran a great race to finish fourth at 25s and as I said in my last post an easier race would have been ideal for this Oasis Dream filly.
A couple of disappointments on Saturday were Byzantine Empire and Cosa Orga.
I had two trackers Sunday and was pleased to see the Godolphin filly Althiqa win after a long lay off and another who will be running in higher grades this season. Do You Love Me could never land a blow at Newmarket and will be interested in how the expensive filly runs the next timeout?
Onto Royal Ascot, the Windsor Castle Stakes looked a minefield, and with most of the field only running once you would have to be a brave man to have a bet.
In my February post, I wrote about the Andrew Balding horse Tactical as a horse to follow this season, well I didn't expect Her Majesty's Tornado colt to be hammered into to 7/2 favourite and take apart a field full of potential talent to win with a bit in hand. Looking forward to seeing how far Tactical can go this season.
14:00 Fri 19 June 2020 Newmarket
Top Class Angel steps into handicap company for her first start of the season. As I have said before, I don’t like handicaps but will give it a chance here.
Top Class Angel is by Dark Angel and out of Expensive Date, trained by Richard Hannon Jr and owned by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum. The 240,000 Euro Dark Angel bay filly was purchased from the 2018 Orby Sales and looks a nice type for Richard Hannon despite still being a Maiden.
Her two runs last season both showed a win will come sooner rather than later. Top Class Angels last run at Haydock was a bit unlucky I thought as she was drawn out wide and had to be settled at the back by Pat Dobbs losing a few lengths in doing so. The winner West End Girl won the Sweet Solera Stakes for Mark Johnston a couple of runs later as for Top Class Angel she was staying on under a considerate ride.
Against a few experienced types here she will have to be on top of her game and can hopefully grab a place at least. Available at 12/1 at the time of writing.
16:25 Sun 21 June 2020 Kempton
Almighwar has a lovely pedigree and should show more now tackling a longer trip. The John Gosden Dubawi colt was never involved on debut at Newmarket last October. Dam Taghrooda had an official rating of 125 after winning the Oaks and the King George Vl and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in what was a short but spectacular career for John Gosden. In the saddle is the jockey of the moment Jim Crowley and I will be surprised if Almighwar doesn't put up a much-improved performance here at Kempton.
Thanks for reading and good luck
