Neil Morrice brings us all of his best bets and tips from day 4 of Royal Ascot including an in-depth preview of the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
Royal Ascot Day 5
Course record holder BLUE POINT takes centre stage on the final day of Royal Ascot with an audacious bid to become only the second horse to complete the big sprint double at the meeting. Tuesday’s King’s Stand Stakes hero came out of his battle with Battaash so well that owner Sheikh Mohammed green-lighted him for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, the highlight of the Saturday card.
The Diamond Jubilee promises to be a sizzling Group 1 as Blue Point jumps into a race that now sees him leapfrogging INVINCIBLE ARMY for favouritism. Charlie Appleby reasoned that the only other occasion that his 5yo could run at this course was on Champions’ Day in the autumn with the prospect of soft ground. Coming back today the horse should encounter a surface not unlike that he galloped over earlier in the week.
INVINCIBLE ARMY is certainly the new kid on the sprinting block and demonstrated with a clear cut triumph in the Duke Of York Stakes that he’s a genuine contender for spring honours this season. Trainer James Tate reports the 4yo to have excelled in his work since plundering that Group 2 and is convinced he’s a Group 1 horse.
Last year he showed a liking for the six furlongs course here when winning first time out and before York was a decisive winner of the Cammidge Trophy at Doncaster.
Seeking to make amends for an annoying near miss in the race 12 months ago is CITY LIGHT, on whom Christophe Soumillon has developed a fine understanding. The combination came from off the pace to deliver what looked a perfectly-timed challenge as the camera stayed on Stephane Wattel’s horse after the line, but the replay showed that in fact THE TIN MAN had put his head down where it mattered.
Wattel took City Light to Dieppe for a racecourse gallop under Soumillon and with all the boxes ticked they will again look to arrive late on the scene.
THE TIN MAN takes his chance again but was beaten into third by DREAM OF DREAMS on his seasonal return at Windsor and could be up against it.
Lighting up the action in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half is the 20018 Investec Derby winner MASAR as he visits the racecourse for the first time since landing the premier Classic.
Sidelined William Buick will not be able to renew his association with the Charlie Appleby-trained chestnut and James Doyle comes in for the prized spare mount.
Appleby has taken his time bringing MASAR back from the injury he suffered after Epsom and looks to have found a perfect platform from which to relaunch the colt’s career.
Diamond Jubilee Stakes Preview
Australian speedball Choisir helped to herald in a batch of star sprinters to Royal Ascot from Down Under in 2003, but no horse has managed to complete the King’s Stand/Diamond Jubilee double since.
History is on the verge of repeating itself after a 16-year wait with BLUE POINT clear favourite to follow up his stunning triumph in the furlong shorter King’s Stand on Tuesday.
The 5yo was too strong for arch-rival Battaash in the final 100 yards and was pulling away at the finish as he scored by a length and a quarter.
As a course record holder over the six furlongs track here there shouldn’t be any problem with the extra yardage, especially as the strip has dried up in the last 48 hours.
However, there’s no doubt that Blue Point’s comfort zone could be stretched as his main foes INVINCIBLE ARMY and CITY LIGHT are six furlong specialists.
James Tate sent Invincible Army out to win first time as a 3yo over this course and distance and can’t wait to see him perform similarly while taking stock of the fact that his rapidly improving runner will need a career best to win.
The horse unleashed a telling turn of foot to plunder the Group 2 Duke Of York Stakes and has been in scintillating form on the Newmarket gallops since.
City Light was dramatically foiled by THE TIN MAN in this race last year after looking to have nailed that rival in a memorable head bob.
Christophe Soumillon brought his mount from some way off the pace and will look to time his challenge with even better precision as City Light needs to arrive late on the scene.
Trainer Stephane Wattel took his charge for a racecourse gallop at Dieppe which delighted both he and Soumillon, and this horse has improved since his more than satisfactory comeback defeat by Inns Of Court at Chantilly.
The Tin Man reserves his best form for Ascot and can never be safely left out of calculations. He experienced something of an up and down season away from that triumph here, but was readily put in his place by DREAM OF DREAMS on his return to action at Windsor.
That suggests Dream Of Dreams must also be afforded respect in his bid to complete a hat-trick, especially as his trainer Sir Michael Stoute is enjoying another successful meeting.
American Challenger BOUND FOR NOWHERE was beaten on his own return to action at Keeneland and although his conqueror Imprimis did nothing to bolster the form on Tuesday, it would be folly to discount the claims of this talented Wesley Ward stable inmate.
Neil Morrice’s Predicted Finish
1st CITY LIGHT (Nap)
2nd Invincible Army
3rd Blue Point
4th Dream of Dreams
5th Bound For Nowhere
Royal Ascot Day 5 Best Bets
Race 1: LOPE Y FERNANDEZ (9)
Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
Jockey: Ryan Moore
Having handled cut in the ground on his Curragh debut conditions will hold no perils for LOPE Y FERNANDEZ in the Chesham Stakes whether it remains dry or there’s further rain. He looked the real deal in the way he surged clear of Kipling to score by a wide margin and although his trainer fields three others in the contest he looks outstandingly the best.
Race 3: MASAR (3)
Trainer: Charlie Appleby
Jockey: James Doyle
How refreshing to see the return of last year’s Investec Derby hero MASAR in the Hardwicke Stakes. The injury the colt suffered soon after his Epsom triumph has been given plenty of time to right itself and all the reports from the gallops are that the chestnut is as good as he was. His closest pursuer in the Derby Dee Ex Bee has done much to bolster the form, but MASAR was considered for the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes earlier in the week, suggesting his connections feel he’ll be effective at a mile and a quarter as well as a mile and a half.
Race: FOXTROT LADY (19) (Each Way)
Trainer: Andrew Balding
Jockey: David Probert
The Wokingham is the biggest betting heat on the card and even though stall 1 is a potential minefield for her, FOXTROT LADY can have her say to at least finish in the money. By the time she goes to post for this Dream Of Dreams, behind whom she finished a two and a half lengths fourth at Windsor, might have given her credentials a boost with a prominent showing in the Diamond Jubilee, while with continued drying of the ground her draw might not turn out to be such a disadvantage as first thought.
