Day three recap

Valiant Force was a 150/1 winner of the Norfolk, making the Amo Racing horse the joint-biggest priced victor in Royal Ascot history.

Tom Marquand landed the King the first Royal Ascot winner of his reign as Desert Hero (18/1) won the King George V Stakes by a head over Valiant King — that’s a lot of kings. Marquand made it a double for himself with Waipiro later in the Hampton Court Stakes.

There was another big moment in Frankie Dettori’s farewell tour as he landed a ninth Gold Cup aboard Courage Mon Ami. That put him one clear of Ryan Moore again, but it will be interesting to see who ends the week with the title of the most successful jockey in Royal Ascot history.

Day three

Albany Stakes

This is an interesting renewal of the Albany Stakes. Money is coming for Navassa Island (7/2) this morning as she is shortening up the fore of the market, but the Group 3 could go to any of these 2YOs.

Jabaara (6/1) and Soprano (13/2) are both Newmarket debut winners, and the latter looks tempting as she keeps drifting in the market, but I’m siding with Carla’s Way (9/2). She’s a £350,000 2YO who made all when winning well on debut at Doncaster and her form has been boosted as second that Star Of Mystery won next time.

Commonwealth Cup

The first of two Group 1s today, I am a big fan of Little Big Bear (Evs). He was dead last in the 2000 Guineas earlier this season, but he bounced back to win the Sandy Lane Stakes rather comfortably under Dettori late last month. The only worry is that he is a little too short for this testing renewal of the Commonwealth Cup.

If you’re looking for something a bit bigger, Noble Style (14/1) could be worth an EW shout. He was out over a mile in the Guineas and was third in a Listed contest at Newbury when dropped back to 6f lto. Charlie Appleby has added first-time cheekpieces today and that could work well.

Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes

One of the races I will likely leave out today, but it’s Teumessias Fox (6/1) who stands out the most to me on form figures. He was gelded at the end of last season and returned with a win at Kempton before following that up with a first turf success when clear at Newmarket lto. He’s up 7lb on that though, but a win has to be coming for Oisin Murphy sooner or later.

Aimeric (10/1) is another interesting one. He’s been gelded and had a wind op, but returned to justify favouritism at Doncaster earlier this month. He’s only raced seven times as well is still low millage and unexposed.

Coronation Stakes

Unfortunately, the Coronation Stakes isn’t the renewed rivalry between Tahiyra (8/11) and Mawj that it was billed to be. It now looks like Dermot Weld’s Irish Guineas winner will win this without even breaking a sweat. I do like Meditate though and her 5/1 odds make it tempting to take on the favourite the way things have been going this week. Meditate w/o Tahiyra at 11/10 seems the safer bet.

Sandringham Stakes

Coppice (15/2) looks out of place in this handicap in my opinion. Indeed, she disappointed in the Group 3 Nell Gwyn, but her two victories on the AW — including a clear win at Newcastle lto — prove she could still be a group horse.

She’s unexposed and off a very good mark today. Unless is a horse I napped last month when she finally got off the mark after seven attempts at Naas. She hit the bar numerous times before that with three successive seconds and could run well to there or thereabouts again. Might be worth an EW punt at 12/1.

King Edward VII Stakes

There are a few Derby horses set to reappear in this Group 2 and the standout is, of course, King Of Steel. He ran an almighty race to give Auguste Rodin something to worry about at Epsom and was ultimately second from 66/1 at Epsom.

He’s much shorter today, but he has drifted out to more backable odds this morning — going from 10/11 to 11/10. If he runs as well as he did in the Derby, then he should be odds-on. Take 11/10.

Palace Of Holyroodhouse Stakes

I’ve got more chance of winning the lottery than telling you the winner of this 5f handicap sprint, that’s all I can say. If I had to pick, it would be Rocket Rodney (16/1) because my dog is called Rocket. Aside from that, he was only beaten by a neck by Little Big Bear here last year and there’s every chance he’s better than what he showed on reappearance when sixth at York.

Newsletter exclusive tip

The exclusive tip didn’t lose yesterday, but it did hit something of a stumbling block as Barrolo was held to a deadheat.

The run technically keeps going though and today’s selection is Rockonmecca (2/1) in the 14:55 at Redcar. Ran well in three handicaps this season (433) and is dropping back to 7f from a mile for this contest, which should suit. Blinkers added