Royal Ascot 2023 - Day 2

 

A small loss of 0.3 points on day one, frustrating with a couple of seconds but little damage done to the bank. I've focused on two of the handicaps on Wednesday, making the most of the each-way concessions being offered by bookies across the board.


15:05 Kensington Palace Fillies Handicap 1m (rnd) (4yo+)

Joseph O'Brien has a strong hand in this fillies handicap and the one I like is his ADELAISE off a mark of 86. She should've won off a mark of 84 at Chelmsford when trained by Freddie and Martyn Meade when unlucky in-running in a small field event. It's fair to say the move to Joseph can be consdiered a trainer upgrade and that was evident when she ran a blinder in a valuable handicap at the Curragh at the end of May. She took well to the first time hood and had to switch markedly off a true line to make a challenge that day and looked very unlucky not to win. Given her unexposed profile over a mile I'm more than happy to back her each-way with 5 places widely available.

ADELAISE 7/1 - 1 Point Each-Way


17:00 Royal Hunt Cup 1m (str) (Heritage Handicap) (3yo+)

This 30 horse, mile long charge is always my favourite race of the week and this is the type of race I usually specialise in throughout the season. We didn't get a particularly clear idea of any draw biases on day one but the TurfTrax going map currently has the stands side ground marginally softer than the far side. That complicates things as most of the pace seems to be drawn high and to play it safe, I'll be spliting stakes accross three horses. 

The first one on the far side is GHALY drawn in stall 8 for Saeed bin Suroor and Oisin Murphy. The godolphin gelding must've had his fair share of problems with only 10 runs to his name at the age of seven, but Oisin Murphy has suggested this race has been the plan for a while, so the long absence isn't necessarily a negative. The form of his win on the Rowley mile at Newmarket in October could hardly have worked out any better, the 2nd horse has won four times since including at listed level and is now rated 24lb higher as a result. The fourth has won since and Rebel Territories who was back in 5th has won both his subsequent starts and is now 8lb higher. Therefore, the 8lb rise which may have looked harsh at the time looks more than fair, I'm happy to have him onside at double figures. He could be a bit of a boom or bust selection, especially with news breaking overnight that a stablemate has pulled out later in the week due to a cough, so I'll make him a win only selection.

GREATGADIAN's draw is certainly not ideal in 13 as he could get stuck in no man's land, but his current price of 50/1 means I'm willing to overlook that with 7 places on offer each way. He was a big eyecatcher in the Lincoln when not ideally drawn and forced to challenge on the wrong side of the track. He's run twice since and again had excuses on both occasions, he was on the wrong side of the track again at Newmarket the next time and then wasn't suited by the way the race developed at Nottingham last time (held up in a race which favoured those up with the pace). The son of Siyouni only finished 11th in this last year but he is 7lb lower this time around and gets first time blinkers here so I'm willing to take a swing at a huge price. 

My final dart here will be INTELLOGENT who finished 2nd in this last year off 1lb higher. He is drawn towards the stands side and looks to have been brought along with this race in mind this season. I backed him last time out at Newbury where he only finished 6th, but he fared best of the hold up horses that day despite meeting traffic problems and was given the hardest of times in the closing stages. James Doyle is back in the saddle for the first time since this race last year and even though we have annoyingly missed the double figure prices, 8/1 is still a bet for me with the extended places.


GHALY 10/1 - 1 Point Win

GREATGADIAN 50/1 - 0.5 Points Each-Way

INTELLOGENT 8/1 - 1 Point Each-Way

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