2023 Royal Ascot Thursday Preview & Tips – DS
2023 Royal Ascot Thursday Tips
We finally hit our stride on Day 2. Villanova Queen, our NAP, won at 25s. We also landed places with Random Harvest (25s) and Aerion Power (40s). I thought Ganesha was given a shocking ride and he should have been much closer to the places. We go again on Day 3, check out Dave Stevos’ 2023 Royal Ascot Thursday Tips below.
2.30 – Norfolk Stakes (Group 2)
Hopefully Reveiller can get us off to a flier on Day 3. Trained by King’s Stand winning handler Archie Watson, Hollie Doyle will ride this son of Soldier’s Call. He has raced just once, at Salisbury over 5f (gd/fm), and it resulted in a rather taking 3l win. I thought he still looked as green as grass when Morris went for him fully but once the penny dropped in the final furlong, he surged clear.
No maiden winners have come out of the race yet but a fair few have gone on to run well in defeat so it isn’t the worst of form.
Soldier’s Call has made a fine start at stud. He heads the first season sire standings with Blue Point (11 wins each) and this colt was picked up at the Breeze Ups for £50k. The dam side of his pedigree isn’t stacked with black type but there’s a couple of 2yo winners in there and this lad certainly looks as though he has come to hand early. He’s a February foal so physically, he should have an advantage over later foals and at odds of 28/1, Reveiller is the each way pick.
2023 Royal Ascot Thursday Tips: Reveiller e/w @ 28/1 (4 places)
3.05 – King George V Stakes Handicap (Heritage)
A race in which a high draw is an advantage. Two of the last four winners were drawn 8 but from 2009 to 2022 eleven of the fourteen winners have been drawn 10 or higher. The one that could be extremely well handicapped here is Cloudbreaker and even better, she is drawn in stall 22.
Trained by Charlie Fellowes, this daughter of Sea The Stars ran a nice race in Listed company at Newbury a month ago. She finished in fourth, just 2.75l behind the winner Warm Heart. The third was Crack of Light, 0.5L ahead of Cloudbreaker. She won a Listed race at Longchamp subsequently and is now rated 101. Scenic was 2L back in fifth and she is rated 90 now after a Longchamp Listed fourth.
Cloudbreaker gets in off 89 here and the first time cheekpieces look a good addition. She was looking around a bit in the closing stages at Newbury and they should help sharpen her focus. Her sire Sea the Stars is a stamina influence so this extra two furlongs could bring about more improvement and she is closely related to a 3 mile hurdle winner. At odds of 22/1, Cloudbreaker is worth chancing e/w.
2023 Royal Ascot Thursday Tips: Cloudbreaker e/w @ 22/1 (5 places) NAP
3.40 – Ribblesdale Stakes (Group 2)
What a race this is. Nineteen runners and one of the potential stars of the week, Al Asifah, is odds on. The daughter of Frankel has looked a machine in both starts to date and she is hard to oppose. We are not in the business of backing odds on shots though so hopefully we’ll be able to find some each way value.
We backed Maman Joon at huge odds in the Oaks and she ran a huge race to finish fourth. Ok, she was beaten 10L behind Soul Sister but it was just her second career start so you would imagine there will be heaps more improvement to come.
She is bred in the purple, being by Sea The Stars and a half to Duke Of Edinburgh winner over this C&D, Candleford. Her half brother Atty Persse has also won at the Royal Meeting at 12f, in the 2017 King George V Stakes. Obviously, the fav sets a taxing standard but Richard Hannon’s filly has plenty of scope for improvement and at odds of 25/1, she looks worth chancing e/w.
2023 Royal Ascot Thursday Tips: Maman Joon e/w @ 25/1
4.20 – Gold Cup (Group 1)
With no Stradivarius or Kyprios in the field, will a new stayer stamp their authority on the division or can the 2021 winner Subjectivist regain his crown? It is an intriguing race and Eldar Eldarov and Coltrane are fighting it out for favouritism. Unlike the Varian horse, Coltrane is proven at this marathon distance so he would be the pick of those two.
At much longer odds, perhaps Big Call can go well for France. This American bred son of Animal Kingdom has landed two G3s at around 16f from his last five starts. He struggled in a G1 in October but that was on bottomless ground. His earlier runs on quicker ground were poor but two of his last three wins came on good to soft ground at Longchamp.
Back in February he showed he could be effective on good to firm with a fine run in a valuable G3 handicap in Saudi Arabia. He finished fourth, just behind Enemy and last year’s Copper Horse winner Get Shirty. It looked like he got a bit outpaced last time over 15f at Longchamp and this 20f test looks well worth trying. Animal Kingdom has produced a few very useful stayers in recent years, hopefully Big Call can stay on late and nick a bit of place money.
2023 Royal Ascot Thursday Tips: Big Call e/w @ 66/1 (4 places)
5.00 – Britannia Stakes (Heritage)
After watching the Hunt Cup yesterday, it is hard to know what to make of the draw. Jimi Hendrix absolutely hacked up from a low draw in stall 7 but the next ten home were drawn 16 or higher. Go figure. It is probably best to ignore the draw and just focus on where the early pace is. With prominent racers Benacre, Finn’s Charm and Saxon King drawn 27, 28 and 30 respectively, it could pay to stick with those drawn high.
Aussie Loudmouth
Out in stall 33 we have Fort Vega. Sheila Lavery, described as a not even half competent handler by a loudmouth Aussie recently, trains this son of Lope De Vega. He is a progressive sort who failed to win at 2yo but whose form has taken off in 2023. He went close on his return on soft in a Limerick maiden, followed that with a win in a Gowran maiden (7f yld) and then he produced a career best to beat Broadhurst by head in a Naas handicap (8f gd/fm) last month.
The form of that Naas win was franked next time by the 3rd Betterdaysrcoming. He’s just a pound better off here with Lavery’s horse for a 2L margin and that might not be enough to reverse that form. Fort Vega is a strong traveller and he should be very well suited to a proper end to end gallop over a mile. Connections also had him in the G3 Jersey so the fact they pitch up here suggests that they think this lad has some wriggle room off his mark of 89. I agree, so at odds of 25/1, Fort Vega is the e/w selection.
2023 Royal Ascot Thursday Tips: Fort Vega e/w @ 25/1 (4 places)
5.35 – Hampton Court Stakes (Group 3)
This Group 3 contest looks wide open. The 4/1 fav Torito won an Epsom handicap off 95 last time and now steps up in class. He looks too short on what he has achieved and the fact that Frankie is on his stablemate Epictetus looks significant. However, at a bigger price Oviedo looks a fascinating contender for Ed Bethell and Callum Rodriguez.
By Lope De Vega, this 3yo landed a good handicap at Redcar last time, his first run at 10f on fast ground. That win came off 96 and it was just his third start on fast ground from six starts. The first came on debut at Doncaster last summer, and he won that. The next good ground start came in the G3 Acomb at York (7f) and he ran a cracker behind Chaldean and Indestructible, staying on late for third. They have won G1 and G3 races since and he had a future Listed winner behind in fifth.
His final two runs of 2022 came on soft ground and he hated it. He then shaped well behind Dear My Friend on the a/w at Newcastle, shaping as though the run was needed. The return to fast ground and step up to 10f saw him regain the winning thread at Redcar and he remains completely unexposed on fast ground. That York form is strong and with his trainer in red hot form, Oviedo looks well worth chancing e/w at 33/1.
2023 Royal Ascot Thursday Tips: Oviedo e/w @ 33/1 (4 places) Nb
6.10 – Buckingham Palace Stakes Handicap (Class 2)
Another big field handicap and our old pal Ropey Guest is drawn in stall 9. He returned to form in a big way last time at Goodwood, hacking up off 88. He is now back up to 95 and that might just be enough weight to stop him from winning. However, Ropey ran a cracker for us in this last season at 40s when second off 92 and he was beat 0.5L off that mark here in September. George Margarson’s charge will run a solid race and a low draw may not be a disaster because he is close to the likely pacemakers. I just can’t resist an e/w bet at odds of 28/1.
Bottom Weight
In the hope that a low draw is where you want to be, I’m also going to take a punt on Redarna at massive odds. Trained by Dianne Sayer, this horse has been a legend for connections. He just sneaks in off bottom weight and Neil Callan rides. He has been on board once before and he finished a fine 2nd here over 8f. His only other run at Ascot resulted in an easy win over today’s trip.
So, his course form is a plus and he can go well fresh. The evergreen 9yo landed the Thirsk Hunt Cup on his first run of 2022 off 91 (at 66/1) and he is just 2lbs higher today. Sayer’s charge was a fine fourth at Ayr off 94 on his penultimate run of last season and he was thrice placed off 94 last summer so he is capable of being competitive off his mark today of 93. The trip and ground look ideal for him so at odds of 100/1, Redarna is worth a couple of quid e/w.
