ASCOT is set to be bathed in sunshine next week which is not good news for big guns Homeless Songs and Trueshan.
Most years we are on weather watch this weekend trying to work out which day at the Royal meeting it will lash it down.
Trueshan is only 5-1 for the Gold Cup but could miss out if the rain doesn’t arrive
But at the time of writing, Ascot is set to be sunny for all five days and with temperatures tipping twenty five degrees.
Alan King’s star Trueshan is a 5-1 shot for the main event, Thursday’s Ascot Gold Cup, but it’s hard to see him taking part with a surface already described as good.
The same can be said for Ralph Beckett’s Scope who is an 8-1 chance for the same event. Scope is a little more versatile, but clearly last season’s Group 1 winner in France has form suggesting he’s best with cut.
Brilliant Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Homeless Songs is the sizzling 5-4 favourite for Friday’s Coronation Stakes.
But unless the track is watered to saturation point, I can’t see how Dermot Weld’s filly will be in the line-up. Weld has always said Homeless Songs wants “nice ground” so only if Ascot is watered heavily will the Moyglare filly get a surface that is adequate. I’d hazard a guess any mention of ‘firm’ in the description would see her taken out of the event.
That would be a bitter blow to Weld, as the master of Rosewell bids for an eighteenth Royal Ascot success and a second Coronation. His first came with Sutton Place, ridden by Walter Swinburn in 1978. Weld’s last Royal Ascot victor was Free Eagle in 2015.
The simple facts are that neither Trueshan or Homeless Songs are set to get their ideal conditions, and that makes the ante-post markets very interesting. Study away.
Ascot always gets under way with a bang on Tuesday, arguably the most exciting afternoon of the extravaganza, and the world’s highest rated horse Baaeed is primed for the opening Queen Anne.
I was lucky enough to go as see William Haggas’s star in Newmarket on Thursday for ITV and was struck by how calm he was. A laidback dude. He should bolt up as his short odds will suggest.
The King’s Stand is a classic with Australian star Nature Strip due to smash up with US raider Golden Pal who is like a rocket from the boxes. I can’t wait for that.
Then there is the 2000 Guineas hero Coroebus, who is back in action in the St James’s Palace Stakes.
The Sir Michael Stoute comeback continues on Wednesday when the Derby winner’s Bay Bridge is a warm market leader for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. I’ll want to take him on, although annoyingly not with Mishriff who is now being aimed at the Eclipse.
It’s hoped the Queen will be able to attend Royal Ascot
All eyes on Stradivarius Thursday in the Gold Cup as he tries to match Yeats and win the race for a fourth time for the Thady and John Gosden team. He’s one horse who should get his conditions and while at the age of eight it’s asking a lot I don’t think any sensible observer will rule him out.
Back to the Coronation Stakes on Friday, and they say the best things in life are worth waiting for, which is why I can’t wait for the return of crack juvenile Inspiral.
With a name like Inspiral the Gosden-trained daughter of Frankel was always destined to star.
And on the back of an unbeaten juvenile campaign, over the winter Inspiral was the sizzling hot favourite for the 1000 Guineas.
Classic aspirations were scrapped, however, when team Gosden decided Inspiral would not be ready for the fillies’ contest.
Connections of Inspiral have hardly been shouting from the rooftops about her well-being, but her two-year-old form has worked out a right treat and she was always expected to train on. It will be fascinating to see her back against Cachet who of course she disposed of with ease in 2021 but went on take the 1000 in decent style for George Boughey.
Saturday for me is about Hurricane Lane, who Charlie Appleby says is ready for the Hardwicke on a day when Aussi star Home Affairs is primed for the Platinum Jubilee.
I’m so lucky to be working for ITV at Royal Ascot next week where there will be an Opening Show every day at 9am.
In print the best coverage will be in this paper. Don’t miss it. Our team are absolutely primed. Yeeehaaa!
