2023 Royal Ascot tips: How To Bet £20 on Tuesday

There is no Baaeed among the older milers this year and the door looks open for a surprise in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

Modern Games and Inspiral dominate the betting for the first race of the meeting, but the former had everything drop right for him when landing the Lockinge last time, while the latter fluffed her lines in two of her final three starts last term and in between only scrambled home by a neck from Light Infantry in France. That horse is a 28-1 chance on this occasion.

The pair are both chalked up at about 2-1, indicating the bookmakers believe there is a 66 per cent chance that one or other of the pair will oblige, but I’m happy to roll the dice.

Berkshire Shadow, chalked up at 33-1 by Coral and Ladbrokes, looks the one to be with because his best form puts him right in the mix and he is clearly well served by the demands of Ascot.

He won the Coventry in fluent fashion at this meeting two years ago and ran a cracker to be beaten under two lengths in last year’s St James’s Palace Stakes given that he missed a beat at the start from an unfavourable draw and had to challenge wide after being last turning into the straight.

Berkshire Shadow was anonymous in the second half of the season but, gelded over the winter, he’s done little wrong this term with successive wins at Wolverhampton and Newcastle being followed by a staying-on third in the Lockinge.

He’s got a bit to find to turn the tables on Modern Games and Chindit, who filled the first two place at Newbury, but not nearly as much as the betting would indicate, especially given his track craft. Ascot’s straight mile should suit him better than the round course 12 months ago.

Another in his element at the Berkshire track is Calling The Wind, who looks a solid each-way play in the Ascot Stakes at the 14-1 quoted by Ladbrokes, who offer five places. Other firms make him 12-1 and go six places if you want a bigger safety net.

Calling The Wind has been placed in the past two renewals of the Queen Alexandra Stakes at the Royal Meeting, underlining his abundant stamina, and his overall record at Ascot reads 12322.

His other exploits in top staying races include winning the 2m 4f handicap at Glorious Goodwood, plus making the frame in a Cesarewitch. He would have been in the mix in the Chester Cup on his latest start, too, but for meeting traffic problems in the closing stages.

Calling The Wind has eased 6lb in the ratings over the past year or so, no doubt convincing connections to go the handicap route this year, and the booking of leading apprentice Billy Loughnane, who takes another 3lb off his back, is another positive.

Bring On The Night rates an obvious threat for the Mullins/Moore combination but he’s been absent since finishing runner-up in this race last year and is priced up most defensively at around 9-4. More tempting, in terms of a saver, would be Ahorsewithnoname, who runs off the same mark as when moving sweetly for a long way in last season’s Cesarewitch when going off at 7-2. She's chalked up at 8-1 on this occasion after possibly having had a better prep.

The betting for the Coventry Stakes is lopsided with all bar River Tiber, Asadna and Givemethebeatboys quoted at 16-1 or much bigger.

River Tiber looks the pick of that trio but I’m going to have a small each-way play on Flag Of St George, available at an outlandish 66-1 with bet365 and William Hill. The former offer five places, while Sky Bet make him 50-1 and will pay you if he finishes in the first six. That may well be the way to play the race.

Flag Of St George represents the excellent Jane Chapple-Hyam, whose runners are routinely underestimated. He shaped well on his debut in a 5f contest on soft ground at Newmarket that has worked out a treat and confirmed that promise when a decisive winner when upped to 6f back at Headquarters last time.

The time was solid enough and the well-held runner-up, Maymay, has since run well in the Woodcote at Epsom. His draw in stall 2 also looks a positive as the Going Stick Readings for Ascot on Monday morning suggests those drawn low will be racing on quicker ground than those on the stands’ side and centre.

Frankie Dettori’s mounts this week are likely to go off at shorter odds than they should, given he insists this will be his final season, but I still cannot resist backing Saga, owned by His Majesty The King, in the Wolferton Stakes.

Dettori didn’t have his final hour when beaten a head on the grey in last year’s Britannia Stakes, finishing with a flourish after setting him plenty to do, and a few also pointed fingers in his direction after a similarly narrow defeat at Newmarket over 1m 1f on 2000 Guineas Day, when he again kept on well.

In fairness, it seems Saga is not the most straightforward, but he looks to have everything going for him on this occasion, including the extra furlong, better ground and a favourable low draw. He meets his Newmarket conqueror, King Of Conquest, on 3lb better terms and is much more favourably drawn than that rival.

Saga’s biggest threat seems likely to be his stablemate, Francesco Clemente, who is equipped with first-time headgear after being his own worst enemy when touched off at Goodwood last time.

Two more Mullins-trained runners, Vauban and Absurde, head the betting for the closing Copper Horse Handicap. They both warrant plenty of respect but at the prices I’m happier to row in with Raymond Tusk, dismissed as a 33-1 chance, and Sam Cooke, available at 18-1. All the layers are offering five places.

Raymond Tusk caught the eye when a staying-on seventh in this race last year, running about as well as he could from well off the pace the way things panned out for him. A year earlier, he’d beaten all bar handicap snip Quickthorn in the Duke of Edinburgh Handicap.

He’s 4lb lower in the ratings than 12 months ago and his latest effort over a shorter trip at Newmarket, when a keeping-on third to Teumessias Fox, a Group horse masquerading as a handicapper, shows he’s in good heart. Like last year, the draw has not been kind to him, but that is surely factored into his price.

Sam Cooke ended last season in fine form and went into my notebook after a hugely encouraging effort in defeat at York, when tanking through the race. I’d assumed the Duke of Edinburgh would be on his agenda but he is just as effective over this longer trip, and perhaps these days even needs it.

The York form has taken a few knocks but a couple of those who finished well adrift have done their best to give it a boost.

2.30 Berkshire Shadow £1.50 each-way at 25-1 with bet365 and Bet Victor (both firms offering four places)

3.05 Flag Of St George £1 each-way at 50-1 with Sky Bet (bet365 offer 66-1 but only five places)

5.00 Calling The Wind £2.50 each-way at 14-1 with Ladbrokes (five places) or take 12-1 with those firms going six places

5.35 Saga £4 win at 4-1 with bet365 and a 50p Reverse Exacta – Saga and Francesco Clemente

6.10 Raymond Tusk £1.50 each-way at a general 33-1 and £1 each-way on Sam Cooke at a general 18-1 (five places)

3.40 Coolangatta

4.20 Chaldean

2.30 Berkshire Shadow (2) and Modern Games (7)

3.05 Flag Of St George (11) and River Tiber (17)

3.40 Coolangatta (10) and Highfield Princess (12)

4.20 Chaldean (1) and Paddington (8)

5.00 Calling The Wind (2) and Ahorsewithnoname (6)

5.35 Saga (14) and Francesco Clemente (9)

6.10 Raymond Tusk (10) and Sam Cooke (2)