2025 Royal Ascot Saturday Preview & Tips – DS

by Dave Stevos | Jun 20, 2025

2025 Royal Ascot Saturday Preview & Tips

We move into the final day of what has been an up and down week. Dave Stevos’ 2025 Royal Ascot Saturday tips are below.

2.30 – Chesham Stakes (Listed)

An unusually small field of nine will go to post in the opener on the final day of the Royal Meeting. Ballydoyle have made hay in these two year old races this week and Moments Of Joy is a short enough price to give them another win here. She wasn’t as spectacular as some of her stablemates when winning on debut but it would be no surprise whatsoever if she won.

Against my better judgement I am going to put up a Johnston horse for this race. Surely my dreadful record when backing horses from the yard has to end some time! Venetian Lace, a daughter of Derby winner Masar, landed a 6f Chelmsford maiden on debut three weeks ago. The horse she beat won a maiden at Windsor by over 3l on her next start so there is some substance to the form.

She’ll face different conditions here but her sire finished third in this race on good to firm in 2017 and her dam won a 7f Listed race on good to firm on her second start as a 2yo so there is every chance she’ll be even better on quick ground upped to 7f. Billy Loughnane was 1.5l away from winning on Supido on Thursday, hopefully he can go even closer on Venetian Lace at odds of 16/1.

2025 Royal Ascot Saturday Tip: Venetian Lace e/w @ 16/1 NAP

3.05 – Hardwicke Stakes (Group 2)

Bellum Justum is a horse that owes us nothing. We backed him at tasty odds when he won the Blue Riband trial at Epsom last year and he is going to absolutely love the rattling quick ground at Ascot on Saturday.

Trained by Andrew Balding, PJ McDonald will ride for the first time and he has a decent frame hitting strike rate when riding for King Power (4/27 with 10 top 4s). The son of Sea The Stars ran a disappointing race at Epsom last time out in the Coronation Cup but the good to soft ground was an excuse for that.

When he gets good or quicker, he usually runs very well. On his penultimate start at Newmarket (1m4f, good) he won a four runner G2 by 1.5l. Last season, he racked up form figures of 1321 when getting his favoured ground, including a fine third here in the 1m2f G3 Hampton Court (gd-fm), a neck second to Jan Brueghel in the 1m4f G3 Gordon Stakes at Goodwood (gd-fm) and a smooth win in a G3 at Kentucky Downs on firm.

Oisin Murphy has deserted him, which is a bit of a concern but jockeys don’t always make the right calls and hopefully Bellum Justum proves him wrong. At odds of 22/1, he is the e/w selection.

2025 Royal Ascot Saturday Tip: Bellum Justum e/w @ 22/1 (4 places)

3.40 – Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Group 1)

A cracking race and literally anything could win. Inisherin is 4/1 to add to his Commonwealth Cup win last year and he may well do exactly that. However, I love backing big outsiders in these G1 sprints and I am going to take a chance on a couple at fancy odds in this one.

At odds of 50/1, Annaf is capable of going well in this. His last win came in February last year when he won a monstrous pot in a G2 in Saudi. That was over 7f on good to firm ground but he’s just as good over 6f and he was narrowly denied in a listed race at that trip at Salisbury last month.

He’s already won over C&D on good ground, a G3 in October 2023, and while he has won a handicap on soft turf, his best efforts have come when conditions have been quick. He was only beaten 2.75l in third in the 5f King’s Stand at this meeting in 2023 and when he was seventh in the G1 Sprint Cup at Haydock later that season, he encountered traffic problems and was only 3.5l behind the winner.

Good To Firm

This will be the first time he gets good to firm ground in a G1 and the fact that Mick Appleby has decided to run in this, and not in a handicap, suggests he thinks he can be competitive. He has a nice draw in stall 12, Rossa Ryan has won six races on him and at odds of 50/1, Annaf is worth throwing a few pennies on e/w.

I am also going to have a small e/w interest on Run To Freedom. Long time followers will remember backing this horse when he was second in the Champion Sprint here at 125s and second in the July Cup at 28s. I was going to leave him alone because of his low draw but that bias seemed to go out the window in the first two races here yesterday.

He has won on good to firm, he has run well at the track before and he ran a very pleasing race on his return from a long layoff last time out. At odds of 80/1, a small e/w bet is advised.

2025 Royal Ascot Saturday Tip: Annaf e/w @ 50/1; Run To Freedom e/w @ 80/1 (both 4 places)

4.20 – Jersey Stakes (Group 3)

The Ger Lyons trained One Smack Mac is the one that interests me in this 7f Group 3. Colin Keane will ride and I firmly believe this son of Kodiac has a big day in him.

He has run crackers in Listed races on his last two starts, over 6f at Cork and over today’s trip of 7f at Naas, both on good ground. In the 6f race, he shaped like he needed further and when he stepped back up to 7f, he was beaten just 0.5l by Copacabana Sands.

That filly, to whom One Smack Mac was conceding 5lb, went on to win a G3 on her next start by 1.75l. Colin Keane rode One Smack Mac more positively that day but he can be held up too and that tactical versatility is a big plus. Ger Lyons has a pretty poor record in the UK but surely that has to change at some point, hopefully it’s today. At odds of 25/1, back One Smack Mac e/w.

2025 Royal Ascot Saturday Tip: One Smack Mac e/w @ 25/1 (4 places)

5.00 – Wokingham Stakes Handicap (Heritage)

The one I am interested in at a big price in this 6f handicap is Twilight Calls. Formerly a very smart sprinter for Henry Candy, this son of Twilight Son has been highly tried in three starts for Richard Spencer. He has come up short in those stakes races but his mark has slipped to 100 and on a couple of pieces of form from last summer, he could go well back in handicap company off that rating.

This time last year he ran in the King Charles III (5f) at this meeting on good to firm ground and he was far from disgraced, beaten just 3.5l for the win in sixth and just 2l behind Big Evs in third. Behind him were the likes of Makarova and Diligent Harry, among others, so it was a fine effort. Even his final run for Candy last September in a Listed race at York suggests he can go well off his current rating.

I’m guessing connections have had this race marked in the calendar ever since they bought him and his three runs this season were all about getting his mark down. Hopefully their plan comes to fruition. At odds of 40/1, Twilight Calls is the e/w selection.

2025 Royal Ascot Saturday Tip: Twilight Calls e/w @ 40/1 (6 places) NB

5.35 – Golden Gate Stakes Handicap (Class 2)

Niels Petersen wouldn’t be the first name that springs to mind in terms of winning Royal Ascot trainers but War Socks might be capable of running a big race for him here. By Kameko, this colt started his career in January over in Meydan.

He showed promise on his debut over 6f but ran much better when stepped up to a mile in a listed race at that venue, running on for a 7l third behind the subsequent 2000 Guineas winner Ruling Court.

His next start came on home turf at Bro Park over 1m and he won that Guineas Trial by 2.5l without really coming out of second gear. The handicapper has handed him a mark of 91 for this handicap debut and that may well be workable. Silvestre De Sousa looks a good booking, hopefully he can steer War Socks into the money at odds of 40/1.

2025 Royal Ascot Saturday Preview & Tips – DS