SHAMROCK NAMES FIRST FOUR ROYAL ASCOT WINNERS: Tough act to follow today as SHAMROCK went to war on the first day of Royal Ascot with a winning NAP and WAR COMMAND WON 20/1 in the Coventry Stakes.
Just for a fleeting moment I allowed myself to dream yesterday.
Two races from going through the card on the opening day of Royal Ascot but at around 5.05pm that dream was over but it didn’t spoil a fantastic day.
I was particularly pleased with WAR COMMAND at 20/1 in the Coventry Stakes – incredible the way he blitzed the field.
This was my opening day scorecard:
2.30 Declaration Of War (PLACE) WON 15/2
3.05 Sole Power (WIN and PLACE) WON 8/1
3.45 Dawn Approach (WIN, NAP) WON 5/4
4.25 War Command (PLACE) WON 20/1
5.00 Midnight Oil (WIN and PLACE) 10th
5.35 Fountain Of Youth (WIN and PLACE) 4th
Now, with some BETDAQ ammo in the tank…. are my day two thoughts…..
2:30 Jersey Stakes (Group 3) (3yo, Class 1, 7f, 21 runners)
It was a cracking day for the Irish trainers on Tuesday and in the opener today Aidan O’Brien will be hopeful that GALE FORCE TEN can continue the good work. Gale Force Ten finished second to stablemate Magician in the Irish 2000 Guineas and confidence in him today has to be tempered a little after Magician’s less then magical performance yesterday. Still it’s Group 1 form in a Group 3 for Gale Force Ten and the drop back to seven furlongs shouldn’t be an inconvenience.
SELECTION: Gale Force Ten (WIN and PLACE)
3:05 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (Formerly The Windsor Forest Stakes) (Fillies’ Group 2) (Str) (4yo+, Class 1, 1m, 10 runners)
Admirable filly DUNTLE returns to Royal Ascot. She won the Sandringham Handicap here last season and since then has been first past the post in all three subsequent starts. Controversially she was disqualified and placed second in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown after one of the longest stewards’ enquiries in history. She showed her current well being with a win in the Group 3 Amethyst Stakes at Leopardstown last month when looking in need of the race. This will be tougher for her, but she seems to rise to challenges and is still relatively lightly raced so would be no surprise to see her improve further.
SELECTION: Duntle (WIN, NAP)
3:45 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (British Champions Series) (Group 1) (4yo+, Class 1, 1m 2f, 11 runners)
CAMELOT’s bubble has increasingly been pierced as more and more it looks as though he was the best of a very mediocre bunch of three-year-olds last season. His sporting connections suffered heartache in the St Leger where his Triple Crown bid failed by a narrow margin and since then the jury has been out. He was probably over the top when unplaced in the Arc (which was an afterthought anyway) and since then has recovered from a serious bout of colic, was workmanlike on his reappearance at the Curragh when landing odds of 1/3, and then beaten by today’s principal rival Al Kazeem at the Curragh in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. That was a tactical race and the pair are likely to be even closer today – particularly if Aidan O’Brien’s supposition is correct that Camelot will continue to improve throughout the season. Camelot for me. But only just.
SELECTION: Camelot (WIN)
4:25 Royal Hunt Cup (Heritage Handicap) (Str) (3yo+, Class 2, 1m, 30 runners)
Traditional cavalry charge with Irish interest at both ends of the weights. Top weight Sweet Lightning won the Irish Lincoln in March and would be a dream winner for new trainer Johnny Murtagh but I am going to have a speculative interest on the Joanna Morgan trained MORAN GRA. He needs to improve on recent efforts but ran on nicely to take sixth in a big field at the Curragh last time which should set him up nicely for this.
SELECTION: Moran Gra (PLACE)
5:00 Queen Mary Stakes (Fillies’ Group 2) (2yo, Class 1, 5f, 24 runners)
Aidan O’Brien might struggle here. He runs Bye Bye Birdie quickly after her maiden win at Cork on Sunday which was by no means impressive. The decision to run Wilshire Boulvard quickly didn’t pay off yesterday for O’Brien and I’m taking on Bye Birdie in the place market.
SELECTION: Bye Bye Birdie (PLACE LAY)
5:35 Sandringham Handicap (Fillies’ Listed) (Str) (3yo, Class 1, 1m, 26 runners)
In a hugely competitive finale to day two Dermot Weld’s BRACING BREEZE can be no more than a token selection but her form has worked out well, could do better over this trip and is entitled to continue to make further improvement.
SELECTION: Bracing Breeze (WIN and PLACE)
SHAMROCK BETS SUMMARY:
2.30 Gale Force Ten (WIN and PLACE)
3.05 Duntle (WIN, NAP)
3.45 Camelot (WIN)
4.25 Moran Gra (PLACE)
5.00 Bye Bye Birdie (PLACE LAY)
5.35 Bracing Breeze (WIN and PLACE)
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