Day 3 - Thursday - Royal Ascot 2020

[Kevloaf]

What are you on / what do you fancy / any other thoughts on Day 3 of this years Royal Ascot meeting....


13:15 - Golden Gates (Handicap)


13:50 - Wolferton Stakes (Listed)


14:25 - Jersey Stakes (Group 3)


15:00 - Chesham Stakes (Listed)


15:35 - Gold Cup (Group 1)


16:10 - Britannia Stakes (Handicap)


16:40 - Sandringham Stakes (Fillies' Handicap)

[Viking Flagship]

This day looks well 'ard.

[Kevloaf]

This day looks well 'ard.

Fav in the 15:35 looks to have a chance


I've backed Mystery Power 14/1 and Lord Of The Lodge 10/1 both e/w in the Jersey.

Nothing else though for Day 3 yet.

[Morley Street]

Battleground for me in the Chesham. Big eye catcher running on late in a decent 6f maiden last time. He’s s a War Front by Found... extra distance looks to be right up his street and granted the usual O’Brien improvement from first to second run, reckon it’ll take a good one to beat him.

[YoungHustler]

My day 3 bets.

1.15 - Highland Chief
The trainers are in good form and I believe they rate this horse much more than just a 101 rated handicapper. The 20s with Corals and 18s with BV are silly. Sky are 10s and PP are 12s.

2.25 - Monarch Of Egypt
Didn't have a hard race in the Irish 2000g where he was squeezed for room on the inside rail which lost him his chance. Would have been interesting if he had been able to get through and this drop in class and trip offers him a great chance at a decent price(8s) IMO.

4.10 - Starcat
Ran well in the English Guineas and the yard rate him really highly so his rating of 94 is quite low IMO. I've taken the 10s with Hills. PP have him at 6s.

[Kevloaf]

Having backed Monarch Of Egypt, his 'unlucky' passage wasn't missed by me, it was the only thing I watched first viewing!

I am not sure the drop in trip will help at all though. He didn't look fast enough to hold his position in the mile race.

The drip in class will need to be distinct. I was hoping for him UP in trip and I'd have been putting him up.


I'll kick myself if he wins for not trusting AOB, but I will stick to my guns and wait for him at 10f before I pull the trigger

[YoungHustler]

Having backed Monarch Of Egypt, his 'unlucky' passage wasn't missed by me, it was the only thing I watched first viewing!

I am not sure the drop in trip will help at all though. He didn't look fast enough to hold his position in the mile race.

The drip in class will need to be distinct. I was hoping for him UP in trip and I'd have been putting him up.


I'll kick myself if he wins for not trusting AOB, but I will stick to my guns and wait for him at 10f before I pull the trigger

I think the stable see MoE as more of a sprinter. Before the guineas, they were worried about the mile trip and therefore i think intentionally held him up at the back of the guineas. Lope Y Fernandez was the other O'Brien runner they were unsure of about the trip and both he and MoE were last 3 out. Whilst LYF had a clear run to make his move on the outside(to finish second as looked to have run out of stamina), MoE had to sit and suffer and was then blocked. I'm going to also take a look at LYF for the Diamond Jubilee although I have backed Hello Youmzain antepost.

[jack1092]

My day 3 bets.

1.15 - Highland Chief
The trainers are in good form and I believe they rate this horse much more than just a 101 rated handicapper. The 20s with Corals and 18s with BV are silly. Sky are 10s and PP are 12s.

I didn't spot him running YH. Nice! I put a case up for him winning the classic trial Berlin Tango won at Kempton. The trip should suit him well i suspect.
I did a bit of digging to see why he ran so badly on his last start and Cole said he had bad ulcers!
The mare was a middle distance racehorse and Gleneagles has had some middle distance runners in his early sire career.
Jockey is in good form. Trainer and jockey are a decent combo too. 1 win from 1 run under their partnership but, under Paul Cole only, Rossa's stats with Cole's 3yos were 12 runs, 4 wins, 1 second, 2 thirds and 4 fourths! So not bad.

Backed him myself.

[Kevloaf]

Happy to concede the connections are likely to be right, so good luck today YH

Added Highland Chief too, 18/1 (5 places) with BV

[Viking Flagship]

Just taken Sky's 25/1 with 5 places about Yoshimi in the opener. He was third in the Palace Pier/Acquitted race when the 2 seemingly pulled a mile clear but in fact Yoshimi finished closer to Acquitted than Acquitted did to the winner, having been well outpaced over the 1m trip. This step up looks very likely to suit and with a 4lb pull on the favourite I just don't see that there should be such a discrepancy in price. Not sure what I read into the Andrea Atzeni booking who rides very infrequently for Richard Fahey - it's definitely not a negative though. Acquitted is clearly highly rated by connections (was well backed that day to beat Palace Pier) but on that evidence having travelled so strongly he didn't look to be crying out for a step up in trip. I'm happy to chance Yoshimi at a nice price in another hugely competitive handicap full of progressive types.

[Saxon Warrior]

FINEST SOUND at 7/1 for the Britannia Handicap Stakes 8F at 4.10pm in my NAP OF THE DAY for Thursday.
His new handicap rating today is 12lb higher than when he won easily a week ago.
He has a 5lb penalty for Ascot, so he is running from a rating 7lb lower on Thursday than he can run off in the future.

[Eggs]

....had to have a little interest in He’s a Keeper @ 44-1 (with boost) in the Britannia knowing how Dascombe targets a couple for this meeting and Kingscote being in top form.

[ComplyOrDie]

FINEST SOUND at 7/1 for the Birtannia Handicap Stakes 8F at 4.10pm in my NAP OF THE DAY for Thursday.
His new handicap rating today is 12lb higher than when he won easily a week ago.
He has a 5lb penalty for Ascot, so he is running from a rating 7lb lower on Thursday than he can run off in the future.

Expecting good things from this one also SW!

[ComplyOrDie]

13:15 - Global Storm 6/1 E/W (5 Places) - Pretty sure someone else put him up on here last week or so, can definitely see the appeal. The in form Buick on board, for a trainer also in very good form, so double positive. Form looks solid, and obviously due to go up 5lbs in the future, so is still on a good mark. Held off backing him as he was fairly weak prior to now, managed to get some 7's last night, but still 6/1 available which is plenty fair enough.


13:50 - Regal Reality 9/2 - Had been on the go since April last year, and despite the short break I think it was one race too far for him in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October. He'll also get a 4lb swing with current favourite, Fox Tal, who finished 7 lengths ahead of Regal Reality, but also went to the race a lot fresher. Both horses could improve, so wouldn't surprise me if Fox Tal still got the better of RR, so I won't be going in heavy, but at the price I'm happy to go with RR.


14:25 - King Leonidas 10/3 & Lord Of The Lodge 10/1 E/W - Are my two plays here. The yard and jockey of King Leonidas are absolutely flying at the moment, and is hard to ignore, as he too has made an impressive start to his career. This is a big step up but one I expect to take in his stride, before going on to better things. Lord Of The Lodge had run in some fairly useful 2yo races last term, the best effort, IMO, finishing a good 2nd behind the now 114 rated, Threat. It was a good run on reappearance this season over at Newcastle, I suspect mostly for race fitness, but I mostly expect improvement to come from the step up in trip, and he could go well at a nice price. One other, who I will back out of pure sentiment, everyone loves a cliff horse, is Ropey Guest 33/1 E/W (5 places). I remember backing him in the Coventry Stakes for 5 places, and he finished 6th at 200/1, I was gutted! Since then I have managed to grab some place money on him at nice prices and is one I feel always runs a fair race. He'll have it all to do yet again, but he doesn't seem to dislike Ascot, and he has finished top 3 in Group 3's or higher no fewer than 4 times from his 10 starts (6 Group 3 or higher races), I'll be trying to nick some place money with this one, anything else is a bonus!


15:00 - Modern News 3/1 - Again, not a strong bet, but made a nice start to his career at Newmarket, at a trip a little short. Step up here, and hopefully more improvement, but a tough race to decipher, small stakes for me.


15:35 - Pray for the Strad! In multiples, hopefully wins!


16:10 - Finest Sound 6/1, Dance Fever 18/1 E/W (5 places) & Johan 10/1 E/W (5 places) - The three that interest me the most. Finest Sound could be anything, a group horse masquerading in a handicap, and wouldn't be the first horse for connections to do so. Dance Fever has been a constant improver, think the step up to 1m will suit, obviously improvement needed again, but no reason to suggest he can't again, looks overpriced at 18/1 I feel, so worth some pennies E/W. Johan made an impression on reappearance, looking to have won a shade cosily, and along with Finest Sound is due to go up in the weights in the future. Have yet to play Johan, but I'm sure it won't be long before I do.


16:40 - African Dream 2/1 - All over this filly. Gave 7lb to a filly rated 106, LTO, and lost by a nose! Highest rated she faces here is 101, and gets masses of weight from the top lot. Her rivals are more experienced, but if I believe something is going to have to be a little special to beat her here, IMO. As someone on here has noted (sorry, forgot who it was), Declared Interest is worth considering as a saver also.

[ComplyOrDie]

Added Yoshimi 20/1 E/W (5 places) for the first race of the day tomorrow.