Charlie Hills: the inside track on my best Royal Ascot hopes

Charlie Hills says he is set to send a "nice team" to Royal Ascot this year, and the Faringdon Place handler is no stranger to recent success at the meeting.

Dark Shift (2022) and Afaak (2019) landed the Royal Hunt Cup, while Battaash struck in the King’s Stand (2020), and Hills is finalising plans for over 20 of his team who are set to be in action at the Royal meeting.

“We might have quite a big Royal Ascot team – about 20-odd this time,” said Hills. “We are still finalising plans, but we have a nice team.”

"We have a couple of two-year-olds, but they have to step up from their last run, but we have a nice team and as always, we’re really looking forward to the meeting.”

Below, Hills provides the inside track on some of his key players.

Race: Britannia Stakes (Heritage Handicap).

Overview: Looked above average when getting off the mark on his third outing last season having finished third in a strong maiden at Newmarket prior to that. Could only manage fifth on his handicap, and seasonal, debut in May but there should be more to come from this three-year-old.

Trainer comments: We have a couple in the Britannia. Bodorgan, if he gets in, will have a chance in that.

Race: St James’s Palace Stakes.

Overview: Cicero’s Gift will step into the unknown as he lines up in the St James’s Palace Stakes. Though unbeaten in three starts, Hills is keen to see how the inexperienced Muhaarar colt fares against the likes of 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean and Paddington, who won the Irish version. The three-year-old has made rapid strides this spring and is a general 3-1 third favourite for the Group One mile contest, run on the round course.*

An unfancied 22-1 chance on his debut in a Newbury novices’ race in October, he ran on well to score with ease and returned in March to take a restricted novice over an extended mile on the all-weather at Wolverhampton. It was his five-and-a-half-length win in a conditions race at Goodwood last time that propelled him into the reckoning for a mouthwatering clash with a pair of Classic winners, however.*

Trainer comments: He did it really well at Goodwood last time. I was delighted with it. He has improved with every run he’s had.

Mentally, he has taken a bit of a while to come to himself. Last year we were nice and patient with him. Physically he has strengthened up. He is a nice-looking horse, similar to his dad, probably a little bit bigger version.

It is hard to know where we stack up against the others, as we have come through a different route, but hopefully he will run well.

Race: St James’s Palace Stakes or Hampton Court Stakes.

Overview: Galeron, who was fourth in the 2000 Guineas, did not get the cleanest of runs behind Paddington at the Curragh. He also holds an entry in the St James’s Palace, but could go elsewhere.

Trainer comments: Galeron has done very well and they are two nice horses. Cicero’s Gift is less exposed. I’m not sure what race Galeron will go for – he’s in the Hampton Court as well. He wasn’t beaten far at the Curragh and was a little bit unlucky not to be closer, as he didn’t get the room when he needed it, and we got a little bit too far back in the race.

Race: Wokingham Stakes (Heritage Handicap).

Overview: Khaadem holds a Wokingham entry. The consistent seven-year-old won the Group Two King George Stakes at Goodwood last July before finishing fourth in the Nunthorpe at York. Touched off under hold-up tactics on his return to action at Salisbury, Hills would like quicker ground for him.

Trainer comments: I was delighted with his run last time at Salisbury. We were just trying to run him a bit differently and he hit the line really well. We have a couple of other entries in the King’s Stand and the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee, so we will just keep a weather watch.

Race: Wokingham Stakes (Heritage Handicap).

Overview: Orazio is the general 8-1 market leader for the Wokingham Handicap. He has won three of five starts on the turf, including the last two, with a clear-cut victory over the same six-furlong course last month filling Hills with every confidence he can complete a hat-trick.

Trainer comments: I’m looking forward to Orazio running. He is in the Wokingham and he would have a good chance, I would have thought. I think there is a little bit of rain in the forecast, and any rain wouldn’t go amiss for him. It was nice to get a bit of course-and-distance form last time. He had a bit of a problem last year, so he had a year off. He is a lightly-raced horse and he is unexposed, too.

It is always hard to win at the meeting. Just one winner would be nice and if I had to pick one, I think Orazio would have a good chance.

Race: Britannia Stakes (Heritage Handicap).

Overview: Will arrive seeking a five-timer having won a novice stakes on his final outing last season and has won all three of his starts in handicaps this year. Impressed when defying a rating of 90 on his latest start at Ascot and, based upon that performance, a rating of 97 may not be the ceiling of his ability.

Trainer comments: Racingbreaks Ryder has won his last four starts and he might have a squeak as well. He won at Ascot last time over seven furlongs.

Race: Wokingham Stakes (Heritage Handicap).

Overview: Tanmawwy could join Orazio in the Wokingham Handicap, despite having been a well-held favourite at Newmarket last month.

Trainer comments: Tanmawwy would like a little bit of cut in the ground as well. He ran in the Buckingham Palace last year and seven furlongs was a bit too far.