ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN
NO chat, NO BS, just a brief synopsis of each race with NO expectations that we will find all the winners (I wish) – but enjoy regardless (or pick your own selections, of course), and best of luck to anyone considering a punt!
Tuesday 18th June
2.30pm
With Royal Scotsman likely to take then along from the off, there seems sure to be a strong early pace for the others to attack from - assuming they are good enough, of course. Big Rock is officially the best horse in this line-up, yet he currently trades at 11/2 which may represent a bit of each way value. There is a concern that the going could be too fast for him but as he is yet to face it we don’t really know, and if he can bounce back to his best after a poor effort in the Lockinge, he could go well – though this is a race I will be watching and not betting in.
3.05pm
Seven unbeaten horses and a further six who win last time out shows you just how difficult this conundrum is to solve. Raphael Freire has his first runner as a trainer here with the unraced Angelo Buonarroti who cost 1,000,000 Euros at the Arqana Breeze-Up sales which adds another layer of spice to proceedings, but it’s the O’Briens who dominate the betting with Aidan’s Camille Pissaro and Joseph’s Cowardofthecountry sharing favouritism as I write. Joseph’s son of Kodi Bear really caught the eye when winning his only start at The Curragh, beating the highly regarded Whistlejacket by close to three lengths, and with the runner-up winning the Listed First Flier Stakes very easily on his next start, the form looks pretty decent. This has been his target ever since and if he gets a clear run, he shouldn’t be far away at the finish.
3.45pm
Sprints are never the easiest to call with a moments hesitation at the start often meaning the difference between winning and losing. Trainer Mick Appleby is a class act and so is Big Evs, the winners of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita in November and an easy winner on his return at York last month. That appeared to prove that he has trained on from two to three (always a concern), and as that race was almost certainly little more than a prep run for the rest of the season, he should be at his peak this afternoon.
4.25pm
I am 100% going out on a limb here and will be one of the very few to oppose bot English 2000 Guineas winner Notable Speech and Newmarket runner-up and Irish 2000 Guineas winner Rosallion who arrive with perhaps the best form – but are priced accordingly (currently 6/4 and 7/2). Metropolitan pounced at the furlong pole to win the French 2000 Guineas at Longchamp by half a length, yet he has been ignored here and is freely available at 14/1 – go figure (famous last words). A lightly raced son of Zarak who has won three of his four starts (and looked as if he badly needed the other one), on breeding I think he may even improve for the quicker surface he seems likely to encounter here, and if all eight stand their ground (fingers and toes crossed), there is every chance he can hit the front three home at a massive price.
5.05pm
Our first handicap next and with two and a half miles to cover, and no winning favourite since 2017, best of luck to anyone getting involved! Willie Mullins has won this three times in the last nine years and he may well add to that tally with the ex-French My Lyka who sports a tongue-tie for the first time to help his breathing. Lightly raced for a five-year-old with just the seven starts including two wins in France for his previous handler, and if his new trainer has him “right”, he should go well despite the competitiveness of the race.
5.40pm
Some days you find the outsiders (rightly or wrongly), and others its best to stick to the favourites if their position is justified, and on this occasion I am with Israr despite a fairly short price for a trappy race. The Gosden trained son of Muhaarar drops into Listed company after finishing second to Passenger in the Huxley Stakes at Chester (Group Two), and that may be all he needs to win for the fifth time on his eighteenth start. He has 3lb or more in hand on official ratings, and beat Derby winner Adayar by over four lengths last season in the Group Two Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket, and a repeat of that ought to be more than enough in this class.
6.15pm
One last race to finish day one and this could see Willie Mullins strike after winning this contest with Vauban last season. This year he sends Bellocio after the six-year-old strolled home by nine lengths in a maiden hurdle at Punchestown on his first start for the yard and following a six-month absence. Previously trained by David Menusier on the Flat, he won five races on the Flat from a mile to a mile and a half, peaking with an official rating of 107 after winning in Listed class on the Kempton all-weather. If he is back to anything near that level, then a mark of 100 could be extremely generous, and for the first time in ages, I fancy we can end our day with a winner in the “getting out stakes”!
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