These are the five days of the year that we all look forward to and if we can bang in a winner or two I’ll be absolutely delighted. Winning at Royal Ascot is never easy but we’ve been lucky enough to have enjoyed lots of success here and I think we’ve got a pretty strong team assembled for this year. As well as the racing, this meeting is also a great social occasion and it give us the opportunity to spend valuable time with our owners who love being part of such a unique event.
Persian Force would be our biggest hope on day one in the Coventry and I’m also looking forward to Miami Girl running in the Queen Mary, seeing Mojo Star back in the Gold Cup on Thursday. Ehraz runs in the Commonwealth Cup, Heredia goes in the Sandringham, and Happy Romance takes her chance in the Platinum Jubilee so hopefully we have some decent chances throughout the week.
It’s a long five days, so pace yourself, but I hope you back plenty of winners and take lots of money off Unibet.
Thoughts on our Tuesday runners are below.
Good luck everyone!
Richard.
ROYAL ASCOT – TUESDAY
2:30 G1 Queen Anne Stakes
Chindit (Pat Dobbs)
He probably ran the race of his life in the Lockinge last time where he finished a very credible third to Baaeed but you have to be realistic about things because it’s going to be incredibly hard to turn the tables here. But he’s already proven he’s a Group One horse and we might as well give it another shot because he has a lovely attitude, always tries his best and the straight mile at this course is right up his street.
3:05 G2 Coventry Stakes
Persian Force (Rossa Ryan)
I’ve not made a secret about how much I like this horse and I really do believe he’s the real deal. I’d go as far to say he COULD be one of the best two year olds we’ve had for quite some time. He’s always been very forward which is why we started him off early in the Brocklesby where he did exactly what we expected and he duly followed up at Newbury last month.
This is the Coventry and obviously another big step up the ladder, and he could finish fourth and still have run a fantastic race, but Threat was only narrowly beaten in this race a few years ago and I’d like to think, at this stage, Persian Force is already better than him so we go there with lots of hope, anticipation and excitement. It’s just up to him to do the talking now and show everyone how good we believe he is.
4:20 G1 St James’s Palace Stakes
Lusail (Pat Dobbs)
He proved he’d trained on by running a great race on his first run back in the Greenham and then followed that up with an excellent effort (when sixth) in the 2000 Guineas. He’s not flashy in his work but does everything you ask of him and he’s had a nice break since Newmarket which has freshmen him up nicely and this has been the plan ever since. Yes, he’s a big price and has work to do to reverse form with Coroebus, but he’ll love the ground (the faster the better) and if it stays dry, which I believe it’s predicted to do, he goes there with an excellent chance from a good draw.
5:35 Listed Wolferton Stakes
Aristia (Sean Levey)
We were looking at going to Newcastle for a valuable Fillies’ race up there but she’s in such good form at home and the ground looks ideal so we decided to have a crack at this. She ran a great race at York last time and bar a disappointing run on very soft ground in France last year, she’s done absolutely nothing wrong and has improved a fair bit since her first run back. This is a typically competitive race but she receives a nice fillies’ weight allowance and with conditions in her favour I see no reason why she won’t be bang there.