Dave Nevison's Royal Ascot tips: Sound looks a fine bet in Britannia Stakes

I am very pleased there are extra handicaps at Royal Ascot this year, but handicaps for three-year-olds are the ones I find toughest to work out, so I might drop my stakes a little on Thursday as we reach the mid-point of the meeting.

I also have a fancy up at Redcar, where there are 10 races which will be shown live on Racing TV.

This one was backed off the boards last week at Kempton in what looked, at the time, a fairly weak Derby trial.

He had little right on form to be sent off the 15-8 favourite for that race as he had only won a four-runner novice stakes at Chelmsford on his only other previous start.

Even though beaten into fourth there, it does look as though the Kempton race needs to be seen in a more favourable light after the success of Pyledriver on the opening day at Royal Ascot.

Dettori was not hard on Hypothetical in the straight at Kempton, appearing to leave plenty for another day. With the form now looking much more appealing, hopefully this is that day.

This horse has not run below Group Two company on his last few starts, and his last two victories have come in Group Three events.

He now finds himself down in Listed company without any sort of penalty.

He might have been flying high for most of last season but did perform with credit in just about all his runs and it is possible that a gelding operation might have improved him ahead of this outing. He has certainly always been a bit of a handful in the paddock before his races.

I feel it is highly unlikely that Regal Reality will be in need of the run as this contest looks like it may have been the plan for a while and, on the form he has in the locker, he looks the day’s good thing - aside from Stradivarius.

This horse may well go off a short price for the Britannia Stakes, but it is certainly not impossible for a favourite to win this most significant handicap.

He won in devastating style on his reappearance and would have won by just as far carrying the extra 5lb that is his penalty here.

Simon Crisford had the well-backed winner of this race two years ago, so knows exactly what is needed to win it, and it clearly looked at Haydock as though Finest Sound has been transformed by a trip or two to the vets.

He has a nice-looking draw and is certainly well handicapped to win a big race like this.

Nataleena has not been seen away from Newcastle for quite some time now and has performed consistently well but has often suffered from races being run at a slow pace which doesn’t suit her running style.

A drop in trip and finding herself in a race that is likely to have pace could be a shrewd bit of placing by his young trainer.