The Cheltenham Festival of the flat is finally here and the week is off to a flyer with the Worlds best racehorse running in the first race of the day. Of course I speak about the awesome Frankel who looks to have a penalty kick in the first.
2:30 Ascot - Queen Anne Stakes - Worthadd - Its not worth taking on Frankel today as it doesn't seem possible to get him beat. Sir Mark Prescott's colt could well be the each way value today however. He was beaten by Side Glance last time out at Epsom who I put up in the blog. It was clear nothing went right for him that day, he hated the course and the ground was probably a little too quick. Frankie takes the ride today and that has to be seen as nothing but a positive. Available at 40/1 tonight
3:05 Ascot - King's Stand - Bated Breath - Arguably England's best sprinter around at the moment after a fantastic performance at Haydock in the Temple Stakes on his reappearance. This was chosen as his more favoured route rather than taking on Black Caviar. Obviously the Kings Stand is a much more open contest rather than the Diamond Jubilee. He had a lot of the field today behind him at Haydock and could well improve again for the run. Before his last run you would argue that his ideal distance was 6 furlongs but today will be fine for him.
Masamah - There is a lot of potential each way bets in this race as always, but Kevin Ryan's first string looks the best value in my opinion. He ran very much like he needed the run last time at Haydock behind today's main selection. He will strip much fitter for that experience and the 40/1 being offered tonight looks like good value. He should be there at the end as long as everything goes well during the race.
3:45 Ascot - St. James's Palace Stakes - Gregorian - One that I have been waiting for, for some time now, He didn't handle the track at Chantilly last time at all coming very wide round the home bend. That run is easily forgiven and this track will be more to his liking today. I took 25s a couple of days ago and is now into 14/1 despite not being the choice of William Buick (The Nile). He will be needing every yard of the race today and he should be getting a fast enough pace which will suit him down to the ground. A good price.
4:25 Ascot - Coventry Stakes - Sir Prancealot - He looked absolutely awesome when winning the National Stakes at Sandown when overcoming a very troubled run to score with the minimum of fuss. Since then Richard Hughes has been expressing his excitement about him. Though it is a strong race this year he looks by far the best of those in the field and a straightforward run will see him go very close. 4/1 was around earlier but is now into 7/2 and the first shows of 3/1 are coming through.
5:00 Ascot - Ascot Stakes - Cosimo De Medici - One that has come in for some support tonight and is a very straightforward horse. He can run well on any going and is capable of fitting into any running style, Darryl Holland should suit this horse nicely and a recent Goodwood run should have blown away any cobwebs. He has never made an appearance at a meeting of this standard but he should be more than capable of making his presence felt.
5:35 Ascot - Windsor Castle Stakes - Hototo - In a recent interview with Attheraces Phillip Makin outlined this one as one of his best chances of the week. Kevin Ryan's Colt has improved with every run but by far his stand out performance is the one over course and distance behind Cay Verde on Soft ground. Everything about him points to a big run today after getting his head in front at the third time of asking last time out at Ayr. Huge chance, generally 16/1 but some 18s left tonight
Lets hope for a big first day of Royal Ascot to set us up nicely for the rest of the week
Happy Punting
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