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Joel Pattison
June 26, 2023

JPRacing - back to normality

Royal Ascot is over for another year and I’m glad to see the back of it if I’m honest. The 2023 renewal was a bit of a let down as no horse really blew my socks off and there’s not much to really take it out of it - other than perhaps keeping an on Paddington and King Of Steel.

It’s back to normality today though and back to the old format after last week’s Royal Ascot specials - which I did manage to find a few good winners in but also hope you still enjoyed reading everyday!

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Stats show that the average start-price for winners at Royal Ascot this year was over 16/1 - that’s how much of a minefield it was. In fact, SPs of the winners were so big if you had £1 on every horse at the meeting, you’d still be over £600 up!

The world’s top-rated horse Equinox put on another eye-catching display when returning from his Dubai Sheema Classic success in March to win the Takarazuka Kinen yesterday.

Hukum is set to targeted at the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot later this month after missing the Hardwick Stakes at the Royal meeting due to fast ground. He’s currently priced at 8/1 antepost.

The Breeders’ Cup is the long-term target for shock 150/1 Royal Ascot winner Valiant Force after the Amo horse’s Norfolk success.

Oisin Orr, regular rider of Blue Yonder, won his second Sunday Series Jockey Cup (worth 10k) after a win aboard Mauna Loa in the opener at Pontefract and a second-place finish on Wooton’Sun later on the card.

Ones to watch

There are three 2YO races across the cards today, with Wolverhampton, Windsor and Ballinrobe all having one each. Today’s Twitter NAP Matasawi features in the one at Wolverhampton, so let’s take a look at one from each of the other meetings.

The first is Free Nation in the 17:35 at Windsor. Middleham Park 2YO Red Zone Hero, out of Starspangledbanner, is making his debut. He’s a half-brother to a few winners and his dam Hightime Heroine won over 6f, but Michael Bell is yet to have a 2YO winner this season.

Charlie Hills, on the other, has sent out three 2YO winners and Free Nation has a great chance of making it four at 9/4 best odds. He’s a 100,000gns yearling and a half-brother to eight winners. His pedigree speaks for itself and he gets the vote of these newcomers.

The other is Report in the 5:45 at Ballinrobe. He was 11 of 14 runners on the AW at Dundalk on debut in November, but reappeared with a much better showing when 5th at the Curragh over 1m2f lto,

The Coolmore horse (11/4) should come on from that and there are concerns over whether or not the favourite The First And Last will have the stamina for this trip. Donnacha O’Brien is on form as well, with a first Royal Ascot victory and a 40% strike rate from five runners in last 14 days.

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There are a couple more with C&D form to their name that I like at Wolverhampton.

Unlimited Data (2/1) in the 18:25 won two in succession here in December and on reappearance in May before coming home a respectful second when upped in class for a turf run at Windsor lto. He comes back here for another crack at a Class 5, but is a key player on previous form.

Mars Magic (2/1) reappears in the 19:30 after winning readily over C&D on debut in September. He hasn’t been seen since but he’s taken to make it 2-2 for James Ferguson on his reappearance.

Alpina Express is another horse I like. I napped her when she won easily to make it 2-2 on the turf last Monday. The Charlie Johnston horse is gunning for a hattrick of victories since handicapping and she’s constantly improving. A big weight today, but hopefully doesn’t stop her. She’s now available at 11/10 after being odds-on this morning.