Royal Ascot

Coltrane Gold Cup, Chaldean St James Palace, Berkshire Shadow (ew) Queen Anne.

I fancy Mawj to win again presuming anything close to good ground. I really don't think soft ground suited Mawj at Newmarket & her class prevailed.
So much does still depend on the vagaries of the British summer & whether it's fast summer ground or it ends up on the soft side. If he turns up I like Courage Mon Ami for the Gold Cup. His debut win at Kempton was incredible & that Goodwood win this season suggests to me he could be pretty special.

I like Chaldean too. I think he'll outrun Paddington and cement his 2000G win; Savethelastdance is another if she runs in The Ribblesdale. Of course Desert Crown if she's as good as his Derby form; Trueshan is a lay if he runs.

Desert Crown Nr …shortened massively since Frankie took the ride,,,,hope the horse is ok

I half expected this after some of the headlines in the Racing Post a few days ago:
"Desert Crown sparks 'significant Royal Ascot gamble' after dazzling under Ryan Moore in Newmarket gallop" and comparisons with the Frankel workout, in which the legend supposedly beat a train.
It's almost as if someone wanted to encourage reckless betting on a favourite.
But that is just speculation and in the real world, the RP is a respectable newspaper independent from any bookmaker influence.

In the City this will be deemed insider-dealing ie dealing with market-sensitive news. I'm sure the setback would have been known within the privileged circle of Desert Crown soon after or next morning.

But, layers will allow into the market for a few good days to profit knowingly of the horse's predicament.

Coltrane, Highfield Princess, hoping to be there first 2 days, hernia permitting

Backed Jumby for the Wokingham,hope he shows,average @ 27s
on here.
    GL ALL

Matt Chapman said last night (at Windsor) that Savethelastdance would not be running in the Ribblesdale and I got the impression that he got this straight from Aidan.
She is still quoted by all those books who have a market on the race at 5/1.

If neither Savethelastdance nor Soul Sister is present The Ribblesdale will be a weak race. The former will probably try to win the Irish Oaks; the latter Yorkshire Oaks prior to a gig at Longchamp in Oct. This is where both these fillies may meet.

It would be unusual to see the Oaks winner run in the Ribblesdale.

Backed Tacarib Bay @ ave 40s Win on here for the Hunt Cup.
Ran on the straight cse 3 x & only disappointing in the Jersey
Stks when well btn but he was snatched up in that race,didn't
really get involved really in that though.Been 2nd & 3rd on his
other 2 runs,both H'caps.When 2nd behind Tempus he met a bit of
trouble in running ,was btn 2 1/2Ls,probably been a length or so
closer with a run.Saga was also in that race,2Ls behind him & as
the weights stand is 9LB worse with Tacarib Bay.Astro King was in
the Balmoral here & was also a fair way behind the selection when last.
Was eased once he was btn in fairness.Astro King now trained by Kubler
& made a good reappearance when 4th @York.The above 2 are in the 1st 3
in the betting for this around 8/1-10/1,Tacarib Bay's around 25s & 33s
with the books.Perotto is also around their price & was also behind in
the Balmoaral.Obviously there could be a big draw bias in this,that's
the chance you take.If there is & Tacarib Bay's on the favoured side
can see him running a big race if he shows & at least making the frame.
Some books might go 1st 6 Plcs on the day aswell.
Some cracking racing & races to look forward to
   GL ALL

King Of Steel (Derby 2nd) for The King Edward VII Stakes; best price is 6/4 - what a price! What price would Auguste Rodin be if turning up here? 1/4 I'd reckon.

GL Penzance.
Nice write up.

As regards to Savethelastdance and Soul Sister meeting in the Arc, I would have my doubts.

Savethelastdance is not good enough for me, and Soul Sister would be an unlikely runner. Given the probable soft ground and stamina doubts.

I think Al Asifa is the best 3 year old in the Gosden yard and would love to see her run in the Arc after winning the Irish Oaks.

TRIPLE TIME for a place in the Queen Anne
COOLANGATTAin the King's Stand
BALSAM in the Queen Mary
STRATUM in the Queen Alexandra

I like Coolangatta in the Kings Stand.  She went past Nature Strip when asked without much difficulty in the Black Caviar Lightning (5f, good) and just held on for the win.  5f is her ideal trip.  However, she doesn't like it soft.  She was foaled in October 2019, so she is really a 3.5 year old.  I don't expect any of the British horses to be good enough to cope with her.

brandy....you might see her at Royal Ascot yet. Possible supplementary entry.

No Savethelastdance but Al Alsifah's been put in.

Dettori is 'evens' (max £10) to win a race on day 1 with 'billie'. Value or not?

Very surprised to see that.

Must be bouncing after her Goodwood win.

Thunderstorms predicted in parts of the UK. Ascot? Much appreciated if locals care to update here. Thanks in advance.

Raining lightly there according to mate of mine, forecast dry tomorrow and light rain most of Tuesday

the Dettori evens seems value now for a day 1 winner. Good book of rides

Looks like 1/2 on his prices , so value , my maths can be shaky though .

365 odds: Moore (1/5); Dettori (3/10: Buick (1/2) for a winner at least. I think 'billie' is still offering 'evens' for the italian Royal Ascot swan-song.

Will the italian do u-turn on his retirement? Any betting on it?

Any more rain today? Btw 'billie' is offering 14/1 "epic boost" on Ace Impact for The ARC (from 7/1).

Laid Modern Games. Backed Paddington.

Inspiral is on the walkabout. Impending give-in-the-ground perhaps.

Chaldean in the SJP Stks the horse to beat.This is effectively
only his 2nd run of the year so should come on for his Guineas
win.Frankie uses the 1 draw he should be able to place him where
he wants to.Best horse in this race in my book.A few days ago was
9/4 for this.
   GL ALL

Mawj has a dodgy scope, and is taking sick-leave on thursday. A gift for Tahiyra and Meditate.

My take on the SJP race was the guineas form had taken a knock in the Irish guineas, thought track would suit the winners
Running style, wasn’t much to split them on ratings, prices you could, should backed forecast, that was a mistake, would have expected the favourite to atleast place.  First race of the day, Dettori definitely at fault, costly for me

Nice work figgis.
Chaldean seemed to tire late on in that,only just
held on for  2nd.Not watched it back though.
  wd
   GL

My royal Ascot is over now, take a break for few days until I can reload next week, dropped  around 6.5k last few days, learnt a lot from high stakes punting in the last 2 weeks, taking my foot of the gas when I was doing very well, motivation was letting me down, learnt that lesson now, something you can only learn when you have the experience of being in that position., that’s why you have to smash it when you are doing well and take your winnings into the high 4 figures per day if you can, takes a lot out of you, next time will take a break after a really good run, reset and recharge the mindset

Good luck

King stand stakes winner hit a top speed of 100 as a 2yo, just checking a few of the top sprinters of the last few years, they managed to hit top speeds of 100 as 2yo’s, something the favourite only achieved as an older horse, dramatised hit 100 top speed as 2yo,looks like the ground and draw wasn’t favourable today, no other horses got anywhere  near 100 or that in the race today

Roadrunner.

I assume your stake is a reasonable( prudent)  % of a separate racing bank, sufficient to cover a long losing run?

Ta Penzance.

Laid Luxembourg.

Luxembourg is my banker of the meeting. Wrong trip for Adayar plus stable out of form. Bay Bridge the danger but very unreliable.

I wouldn't be so confident that it is the wrong trip for Adayar.  Even at the end of his 3yo season, C.Appleby was talking about 1m2f being his trip.  And trainers who have reached that level tend to know.  I do like Luxembourg though.

I hope Kingscote wised-up to what happened when behind Luxembourg last time.

Well done Fig.

Very good performance from Mostahdaf in the Prince Of Wales.

Moore gave Luxembourg another cracking ride from the front. He did not go overly quick which makes the winners performance quite impressive.

Be interesting to see if he can back it up. Fast ground looks imperative.

i feel morally justified in my selection   noone could have expected that

Mostahdaf is a bit of a monkey. I actually backed him in the Arc at a big price and he finished last. Huge talent but only shows it in about 1 in 4 races.

Hi brandy, my thinking beforehand was that Luxembourg was probably going to regress somewhat from his Curragh win. And that, while I didn't want to back Bay Bridge, Adayar or My Prospero, any of them could take a step up and be running for me. As things turned out I was right about Luxembourg, I have him down 7lbs from the Curragh. However, instead of any improvement I was hoping for from what I saw as the main three opponents, they also regressed from their previous runs. I got lucky that Mostahdaf improved 9lbs on anything he'd put up before over here.

Going forwards, for me, it was a disappointing result, as, even with the improvement from the winner, I can't rate it any higher than a Gp2 performance and think he'll struggle to win another Gp1.

King Charles is relishing and milking his 1st Royal Ascot as king. Soon it could be Prince William and Princess of Wales.

Backed Little Big Bear, Meditate, King Of Steel.

King Charles is relishing and milking his 1st Royal Ascot as king. Soon it could be Prince William and Princess of Wales.

What a vile individual you are

Interesting your with little big bear figg, I’ve never had him running that fast. Today will definitely tell me whether I’ve misread him as an individual, he is certainly making a one horse book in this

Harry, must admit that at the time I wasn't entirely convinced if the Phoenix Stakes was as good as it looked, with the opposition well below par. Haydock convinced me though. I have him a couple of pounds lower than Caravaggio who won this for O'Brien, but that ought to be comfortably good enough here.

I’ll be honest I’ve never really took to him. As much as I don’t like him this is a very good opportunity with just 3 appealing to me and 1 of those I’m not sure how he’ll to take the prem lims. I like Lezoo and always have, just not sure if she’s trained on. I still rate her chevely park run the best on show here

Well he took the prem lims. He’s a good horse to win after that start. The vanquished horse is what he is and couldn’t put it to bed

LBB not beaten too far but, in my view, that's still poor form by Gp1 standards. I saw nothing from the fav there that would make me want to back him again. Well done if you backed the winner Harry.

No I didn’t play figgis a poor bunch. The one I liked Lezoo just hasn’t impressed me this year. I did come down on the winner but I choked because I didn’t think he handle the pre lims. I was delighted when he missed the kick and patted myself on the back for my original thoughts, only to puke when he came on snaffle in the furlong

Not had a bet all week figgis tbh. I’m having 2 tomorrow but not with confidence.

Been trying to sort my ratings out after a break but they aren’t where I’d like them, so have been sitting on the fence recently a bit until I get some confidence, it’s taking me time with a new system not giving me many bets, which yes is slightly pointless

Just cannot keep the O'Briens off winning; dad, youngest son now older son. Thank-goodness his daughters are not r=training too. Otherwise the family might go thro' the card regularly.

Hopefully squared your day up figgis wd.
He is a proper horse I’d say king of steel, it’ll be interesting if he meets the derby winner again this season

Harry, yes just enough to cover the LBB bet and the smaller bet on Meditate. He did it nicely, especially considering they went a crawl.

Laid Covey. Backed Free Wind (although not quite as appealing now Hukum isn't running).

Just a wager ew Al Suhail

Harry, are you chancing Shaquille this time?

Initially I was underwhelmed by the Commonwealth Cup result, but changed my mind later when I compared times. I see Timeform have Azure Blue top rated but for me she's never run fast enough to take a Gp1. Can't say I'd be surprised if LBB improved on that latest effort but there was no obvious excuse and I couldn't back him. A peak Kinross could win but I think he'll struggle to give 6lbs to Shaquille if the 3yo retains his form. I think Shaquille is the one to beat and my main worry would be how he took that latest effort only 22 days ago.