Dave Nevison's Royal Ascot tips: 40-1 chance among Day Two picks

Blue Bolt is a lightly-raced, four-year-old filly who progressed through the ranks, and has already proved she is up to Group One standard when runner-up in last year’s BetMGM Sun Chariot Stakes, plus has a great chance to land her first Group prize here. 

Andrew Balding reintroduced her in a decent Listed event at Goodwood in May, and she demonstrated that she was still progressing by winning comfortably at short odds. She will now be spot on for what has presumably been her main stepping stone to a Group One win later this term. 

She should outclass these rivals, even though she would ideally have been drawn a little lower. 

This Royal Hunt Cup is pretty much impossible to work out, and is not a handicap I will investing too much in, but after gyrating between quite a few possible selections, I am siding with two contenders, and won’t lose too much if just one is placed! 

Linwood looks to be a Group class horse waiting to happen, based on his past two outings. He ended last season with a seriously impressive win on the Rowley Mile, for which he was justifiably raised 10lb.

However he brushed off that rise on his reappearance at Newbury in the Spring Cup and won more easily than the winning margin suggests. 

The runner-up, Classic, has won since, and is actually worse off with Linwood here. The selections has been kept for this race ever since, and definitely looks a contender, plus couldn’t have a better Ascot straight course jockey on board than Jamie Spencer. 

Erzindjan came good last time out after five years without a win, and might well make up for lost time this season. 

It was accepted that Terry Kent had done an excellent job with this eight-year-old, despite not securing a win for so long, as Erzindjan had been placed in some of the season’s strongest handicaps. An end-to-end gallop, which is certain here, is what this gelding needs to excel, and with what is usually a good draw in stall 24, and Ryan Moore booked, I would be surprised if he didn’t go close. 

I am going for a William Haggas win in this top-class Fillies' Handicap! Alobayyah is a lightly-raced filly who may well be ready to hit the headlines based on her very eye-catching return to action. She finished third in a handicap over course and distance, but would likely have won if she had been ridden a little closer to the pace, and got going a little earlier. 

She finished well and, in my opinion, looks a good bet to finish ahead of the two fillies that beat her there. Tom Marquand is also back on board, and knows her well. 

Seren Star is more exposed than most in this field, but I believe she is definitely overpriced here. A stiff mile run at a strong pace is exactly what this consistent filly wants, and she will get exactly that on Wednesday. 

She showed this when winning at Nottinghm last season in a race that has worked out well, and can be forgiven her two runs since. Haggas has applied a tongue tie for this run, and at the 40-1 on offer, I am more than happy to take a chance.