Thursday, June 19, 2008

Royal Ascot - Friday

Only nine go to post in the King Edward VII Stakes at 3.05 but it still looks pretty competitive. Several commentators fancy Bronze Cannon who is surely better than his official handicap rating of 103. His defeat of subsequent Derby fourth Doctor Fremantle reads very well but the fast ground is a cause of some concern. Ballydoyle's representative Hebridean is respected but I've concentrated on the two top-rated animals according to the official handicapper, All The Aces and City Leader. Using Doctor Freemantle as a yardstick, you could argue that Bronze Cannon would have the measure of All The Aces, but the 10/1 on offer at Ladbrokes makes City Leader an interesting each-way proposition.

Cheveley Park hold a strong hand in the Coronation Stakes with market leaders Spacious and Infallible; I see Spacious as the most likely winner. The one that has caught my eye here is Nahoodh. I tipped her each-way at 33/1 in the Guineas where she met trouble in running but would have gone close otherwise. Since then she has disappointed over in Ireland, had a change of owner and a change of trainer as well. Many see her as inconsistent and new handler Mark Johnston, writing in the Weekender, says, 'She has put on a bit of weight which isn't ideal just before a race, but will take her chance nonetheless.' Doesn't sound too convincing, does it? I may have a small each-way investment as 10/1 is a big price if she runs to her best form.

Finally, in the two mile Queen's Vase, Captain Webb, also from the Mark Johnston stable, looks a value play against the Michael Stoute trained favourite Patkai.

1 comment:

GeeDee said...

I took the afternoon off to watch these races - I would have done better to stay at work. City Leader (8/1) looked to get bumped as they came out of the stalls, didn't settle thereafter and although making some headway up the straight finished a one-paced sixth behind Campanologist (9/1).
Spacious (9/4f) failed to pick up as anticipated, finishing fourth behind 5/1 shot Lush Lashes. Beforehand the talk was all about the lack of pace in this race; Frankie went to the front on Nahoodh (10/1) but the filly was swamped soon after the two furlong marker, eventually finishing sixth. The race time was fast considering the pre-race pace worries.
In the Queen's Vase Captain Webb (9/2) led until the two furlong pole but faded badly, clearly failing to stay the trip. This was disappointing as the trainer had said beforehand he thought his charge would relish the set-up in distance. I suspect it would have made little difference as 6/4 favourite Paktai showed a most impressive turn of foot to win as he liked. Described by Sir Michael Stoute after the race as 'progressive', the horse is now quoted at 4/1 for the St Ledger.