Former Talksport man Charlie McCann marks your card with seven to follow on Saturday at Royal Ascot and Haydock Park. View selections below
The final day of Royal Ascot 2017 begins with the 7f Chesham Stakes for two-year-olds and September is Aidan O’Brien’s only 2-y-old to win first time out so far this season having won at Leopardstown over this trip earlier in the month. That might not have been the best maiden ever run at the track, but the yard’s two-year-olds invariably come on for their first start and she will be hard to beat.
That said she is 11/10 with BetVictor and Wesley Ward’s Happy Like A Fool showed us earlier in the week when a beaten favourite that it can be folly to back a two-year-old at a short price in a big field.
The each way recommendation is Masar (2.30) who scored at Goodwood on debut last month for Charlie Appleby and this additional furlong will suit on the evidence of his first start. The selection is 6/1 at BetVictor and do note the second horse at the Sussex track (Invincible Army) was due to run at Newmarket on Friday evening. At a bigger price, one that caught my eye at Leicester on debut was Match Maker (20/1) for Simon Crisford.
In The Wolferton Handicap Muntazah (3.05) has been overlooked by the owner’s retained jockey Jim Crowley in favour of the market leader Khairaat, but is the each way recommendation at 20/1 with BetVictor. Trained by Owen Burrows the colt has only had eight career starts and finished fourth in the Dante Stakes at York last season. He may not have got home over 12f last time, and the hope is that today’s first-time cheek pieces can eke out a bit more improvement.
Dartmouth won the Hardwicke Stakes for Her Majesty the Queen last year and is 15/8 at BetVictor to follow up for Sir Michael Stoute. He must go close but preference is for Wings Of Desire (3.40) who is making a belated seasonal reappearance for John Gosden. The selection finished runner up in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes last July when he had Dartmouth behind and that is the best form on offer.
The each way election, who finished fourth in last year’s Derby, was receiving 12lbs weight-for-age on that occasion and he meets Dartmouth on level weights today, but he is sure to be spot-on for his return and at 11/2 with BetVictor I would be disappointed if he didn’t make the frame on a course that clearly suits.
The feature event is the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes over six furlongs and I can’t see where the pace is going to come from with few, if any, confirmed front-runners in the field. With that in mind, it is hard to be confident about how the race will pan out and confidence behind Magical Memory (4.20) is tempered by the, seemingly, lack of pace.
The grey finished runner up on his reappearance behind Tasleet on ground softer than ideal at York last month and with that run behind he can reverse the form with the winner with today’s faster ground a positive. Trained by Charlie Hills the gelding was beaten half a length in this corresponding race last season and at 7/1 with BetVictor I would be disappointed if he didn’t make the frame (each way four places).
The Wokingham is one of the big betting races of the year and my two against the field are last year’s winner Outback Traveller (4.20) and Steady Pace with preference for BetVictor’s 8/1 favourite who is only 4lbs higher than when landing this coveted prize twelve months ago. Steady Pace won his maiden here as a juvenile and has bits of turf form which suggest he could go close from his low draw – at 25/1 he might run into a place and note BetVictor are betting each five places on the race.
If Thomas Hobson is in the same mood as when winning the Ascot Stakes on Tuesday, he will win the finale the Queen Alexandra Stakes, which is the longest flat race in the calendar at 2m 6f.
Godolphin started the meeting with a winner (Ribchester) and Qewy (5.35) is taken to go one better than when second in this corresponding race 12 months ago on soft ground. The selection finished fourth in the Melbourne Cup back in November and is just as effective on fast ground. At 6/1, (each way four places) with BetVictor I will be disappointed if he isn’t involved in the finish.
At Haydock this evening, I hope that Teodoro (7.00) will settle better in his first-time hood for Tom Dascombe. This 3-year-old is better than he has shown on his last couple of starts but remains open to improvement if the hood works the oracle.
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Be lucky
Charlie
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