Royal Ascot: How To Bet £20 on Tuesday

Docklands is well served by the demands of Ascot and looks a value bet, at a general 16/1, to land the opening Queen Anne Stakes (2.30) on the first day of the Royal Meeting. 

The Harry Eustace-trained colt has plenty to find on official ratings, but the straight mile brings out the best in him and he looks sure to give his running, whereas several of those at the top of the market have questions to answer. 

Docklands landed the Britannia at the meeting 12 months ago with his half-length win off a mark of 94 only telling half the story. He did well to win at all that day under regular rider Hayley Turner, pulling about six lengths clear of the others on his part of the track. 

He had also scored at Ascot in emphatic style the previous month, too, and signed off with a good third in the Balmoral on Champions Day, when travelling typically powerfully and faring best of those who raced off the pace. That handicap has a habit of yielding subsequent Group One winners with Lord Glitters, Lord North, Accidental Agent and Glen Shiel among those who have contested it in recent years. 

Docklands ran another cracker at Ascot on his return in May when he looked like winning for 95 per cent of the race only to collared close home by the unbeaten Quddwah. He has since suffered another near-miss in another Listed race in France, but I would give him another pass as he was trying to pounce from off the pace in a muddling contest on heavy ground. 

He should get a good tow into the race from front-runners Big Rock and Royal Scotsman, who are drawn nearby, and he is versatile regards underfoot conditions. Four-year-olds have won ten of the past 13 renewals, so he ticks that box as well. 

Big Rock’s six-length drubbing of Facteur Cheval in last season’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is the best piece of form on offer in the race, but he folded tamely in last month’s Lockinge and, in common with Charyn, who was runner-up to Audience that day, may want easier conditions. 

Facteur Cheval is not so easy to pick holes in, especially after his comeback success in Meydan, but that is reflected by his price. 

There’s little doubt the St James’s Palace Stakes (4.25) is the highlight of the day with the three Guineas winners – Notable Speech, Rosallion and Metropolitan – being joined by two more Group One winners in Henry Longfellow and Unquestionable, plus Darlinghurst, who is on a roll. 

However, it is still difficult to get away from the favourite, Notable Speech, who was having his first run on turf when a decisive winner of last month’s 2000 Guineas. He beat Rosallion on merit at Headquarters and the form is working out well. 

Notable Speech has a bend to negotiate this time, but his first three wins all came around one, at Kempton, while his potent turn of foot has been a feature of all his performances. 

The other Group One on the card, the King Charles III Stakes (3.45), is much more open with the form lines tangled and little to choose between any of the runners on official ratings. 

My hunch at the start of this campaign is that the three-year-olds could upstage an ordinary group of older sprinters but the pick of their bunch here, Big Evs, looks a skinny-priced favourite given he flopped in the Nunthorpe last summer and wasn’t overly impressive in dispatching inferior rivals on his return at York. 

I’m going to have a couple of small bets on Makarova, quoted at 35/1 by Paddy Power, and Twilight Calls, a best-priced 12/1 with Wiliam Hill. 

Makarova is an infrequent winner who often gets going a bit too late but she’s a massive price given she wasn’t beaten far in either the Nunthorpe or Prix de l’Abbaye last season (beaten about a couple of lengths each time). The stiffer 5f at Ascot should suit her better than either York or Longchamp, and first-time blinkers may also add an edge. 

She looked on good terms with herself when chasing home Ponntos at Longchamp last time and the winner, a seemingly improved model this term, has since made short work of Group Two opposition. 

Twilight Calls has made the frame in the past two runnings of this race and now looks to have landed in a weaker edition as he seeks to make it third time lucky under Ryan Moore. 

He ran an eye-catching trial when a staying-on fourth in the Palace House Stakes last month, and that form has been franked with Kerdos (fifth) and Mitbaahy (seventh) since landing notable pattern contests. 

Henry Candy, the trainer of Twilight Calls, who had his first Royal Ascot success 50 years ago, hasn’t had a winner from 30 runners this year but don’t let that put you off. Plenty of his horses having been finishing on the premises and you can flip the stat as Twilight Calls seems sure to come on for the run. 

Cowardofthecounty and Camille Pissaro head the market for the Coventry Stakes, but the ground was deep when the former (by a sire whose progeny do well in the mud) lowered the colours of the well-touted Whistlejacket at The Curragh in April, while the latter seemed to have no excuses when outmuscled by Arizona Blue at the same track last time. 

I’m inclined to roll the dice and have a modest wager on Angelo Buonarroti, who is a general 25/1. 

Angelo Buonarroti will be making his debut but he’s in the same ownership as Arizona Blue and his Brazilian-born trainer, Raphael Freire, who will be an unknown to many, has been a vital cog behind the scenes for Amo Racing for some time. 

There’s little doubt Angelo Buonarroti is bred for the job, being by Justify out of a Galileo dam who is a sister of Churchill and Clemmie. His grand-dam was Meow, runner-up in the Queen Mary Stakes, and his great grand grand-dam was the brilliantly speedy Airwave. 

It was perhaps little wonder, then, that this handsome chestnut colt changed hands for €1 million after impressing in his workout at the Arqana Breeze-Ups last month. Only one horse cost more and his connections, who landed the Norfolk with a 150/1 chance last year, clearly believe they have a two-year-old ready for the here and now. He was 40/1 when the final field was revealed on Sunday. 

The Ascot Stakes (5.05) over 2m 4f, looks tailor-made for Pied Piper, who appeals at a general 8/1. 

Gordon Elliott’s versatile six-year-old certainly would not be winning a big handicap out of turn, having been placed in the past two editions of the County Hurdle plus being second in the Cesarewitch in between. He also ran better than the bare form suggests when sixth in this race two years ago. 

Pied Piper is versatile regards the ground and got a favourable low draw, with and Jamie Spencer being just the man to smuggle him to the front in the closing stages. 

Finally, Haunted Dream looks worth an each-way interest in the Wolferton Stakes (5.40) at double-figure digits, while My Mate Mozzie should make his presence felt in the concluding Copper Horse Handicap (6.15). 

Haunted Dream is a tremendously consistent grey and he might well have won a competitive contest at Epsom last month had he not almost unseated his rider leaving the stalls. 

Bolster made all in that race but I cannot fathom why he’s no bigger than 5/1, whereas Haunted Dream is chalked up at 12/1. That simply does not tally with what happened on the Surrey Downs and Haunted Dream is 2lb better off, plus has the services of Christophe Soumillon for the first time. 

My Mate Mozzie is best known for his exploits over Jumps but his high cruising speed, plus penchant for fast ground, suggests he has plenty going for him. 

He travelled with his usual verve when fifth in the Irish Cesarewitch when last in action on the Flat and that effort can be marked up as 2m on heavy ground undoubtedly stretched him. 

2.30 Docklands £1.25 each-way at a general 14/1 (four places) 

3.05 Angelo Buonarroti £1 each-way at 25/1 with Paddy Power and William Hill (five places) 

3.45 Makarova £1.50 each-way at 35/1 with Paddy Power 

3.45 Twilight Calls £1 each-way at 12/1 with William Hill (four places) 

4.25 Notable Speech to beat Rosallion - £2 Exacta 

5.05 Pied Piper £1 win and £1 each-way at 17/2 with William Hill (five places) 

5.40 Haunted Dream £1 each-way 12/1 with Coral and William Hill (four places) 

6.15 My Mate Mozzie £1.75 each-way at a general 7/1 (most firms offer five places) 

60P EACH-WAY PATENT PLUS 10P EACH-WAY TREBLE 

5.40 Haunted Dream (12/1) 

5.05 Pied Piper (8/1) 

6.15 My Mate Mozzie (7/1) 

10P EACH-WAY HEINZ 

2.30 Docklands (14/1) 

3.05 Angelo Buonarroti (25/1) 

3.45 Makarova (33/1)