I’m sure a fair few punters will eschew Sunday’s racing and instead be anxiously waiting Tuesday’s Royal Ascot runners soon after 10am, but I think I have dug out three worthwhile punts.
I am going into the Royal Meeting having had just three or four bets – Ascot is certainly not Cheltenham when it comes to ante-post betting, mainly due to a lack of entries – but hopefully either Le Brivido or Romanised, the latter at a huge price, will do the business in the Queen Anne to set me up nicely for the five days.
It can be a grind if you draw a blank on day one of five, but I don’t chase.
Romanised - Curragh - Shane Foley - FocusonRacing
My advice is to always place your bets nice and early and settle down to watch the action.
Of course, if your selection lengthens markedly on Betfair, I would always advise going in again. I hear far too many people get concerned about market drifts, and I never did get the logic of not backing a horse because it was twice the price you were expecting.
You have to assume a level playing field when betting on horses, rightly or wrongly, and you will certainly be unlucky if you back a horse having a quiet one at Royal Ascot!
Best of luck next week.
Intense Style has slipped to an attractive mark and has his favoured soft ground, so he looks worth an interest.
There is no big story here.
He didn’t run badly last time out at Beverley under today’s claimer and has been dropped another 2lb for it, meaning he is now 1lb lower than for his soft-ground win at Chester last season.
That was the last time he encountered testing conditions and he has run some excellent races at this track, including a win in the soft here in 2016 as well as good placed efforts.
Duke Of Firenze is not a flash price but I have to be with him in his current form.
He was rated 109 at his peak in 2017 and has since plummeted in the weights, but the manner in which he beat subsequent winner Lathom at Thirsk and followed up off a 3lb higher mark at York suggested he was massively on the way back up the ladder, even at the age of ten.
He is now 5lb higher than at York, but I think he would have gone close in the Dash at Epsom last time had he not been held up in his run on the rail at a crucial stage before the furlong marker.
In the circumstances, he did well to be beaten just under two lengths there.
Some of his better career efforts have come on soft ground, and I have to keep the faith here, even though his poor record at this track is a slight cause for concern.
She was always doing a bit too much from her outside draw at Kempton, racing wide all the way, so I am willing to forgive her that poor run.
This could be a decent 0-75 handicap but Here’s Two will revel in these conditions, and I think she remains fairly handicapped off the same mark as her third to War Glory at Lingfield last month.
Her form figures on soft and heavy ground read 012103, and I can see her bouncing back to form.
She races off the same mark as when winning here over 6f in bottomless conditions last April. That’ll do for me.