Good morning/evening and welcome to the first of many blogs this week for Royal Ascot. Last year we were treated to Declaration Of War and War Command with the latter looking to go back to back at Royal Ascot after winning the 2013 Coventry Stakes. Sole Power also looks to gain his second Royal Ascot win as he goes for the King's Stand once more, but last year's runner up Shea Shea also lines up in the field.
As always we have a video preview lined up for you tonight as we will for every day of Royal Ascot this week. Joining me as always are @Calummadell, @Adamwebb121 and @Mytentoryours, if you have any questions regarding day two of Royal Ascot please leave them in the comment area below. We hope you enjoy the video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wysfRdFXB18&feature=youtu.be (Live at 8pm)
Now onto today's selections for the first day of Royal Ascot 2014
Queen Anne Stakes - Verrazano
Verrazano made his debut on this side of the pond in the Lockinge at Newbury, after switching to Ballydoyle from Todd Pletcher's yard in America where he was a good horse in his own right. On his British debut he managed a staying on third behind Olympic Glory but you would fully expect him to improve for the experience and he wasn't given a particularly hard time when beat. Today he runs into his victor's stablemate in Toronado who hasn't had a run yet this season meaning his fitness must be taken on trust alone. Tullius was also ahead of the selection in the Lockinge but was fully extended to do so and god the perfect passage into the race. Verrazano to win the Queen Anne for the second time in as many years for Ballydoyle.
1st - Verrazano
2nd - Toronado
Coventry Stakes - Capella Sansevero
The Coventry took a big hit when Aidan O'Brien declared War Envoy and announced that The Great War will run in the Norfolk Stakes instead. Despite being beaten fair and square by Kool Kompany last time out the Ballydoyle representative was immediately put in as favourite for the race which baffled many. But after hours of endless form reading I have landed on one selection but admittedly still find it hard to separate three contenders.
Adaay seems like a good place to start out of the three as he is the most fancied in the market after beating Mind Of Madness who runs in the Windsor Castle today. He absolutely tanked through the race that day and will likely appreciate the stronger pace this afternoon, however he showed he had a good turn of foot as well on debut at Newbury. Paul Hanagan gave him no more than a couple of slaps down the neck and a bit of a squeeze that day which would signify he had more left at the end but definitely looks one more for the future, although a victory today would be no shock whatsoever.
One of the pace angles could well be Justice Good after he showed tremendous battling qualities on his last two outings including under a huge weight last time out. The services of Ryan Moore have been booked today and will be tough to pass if he gets to the front but preference is for the Ger Lyons trained Capella Sansevero.
With three appearances to his name he is one of the most experienced in the field but is yet to face defeat despite running in good company. On his only try over 6 furlongs he held on against Dick Whittington who won at the weekend but that was on softer ground and he showed his true class last time over five furlongs. One last point in his favour is that on a form line through Toscanini he is ahead of Kool Kompany as well as War Envoy but remains a bigger price than both of them. Capella Sansevero to win the first two year old race at Royal Ascot this year.
1st - Capella Sansevero
2nd - Adaay
3rd - Justice Good
Kings Stand Stakes - Sole Power
Eddie Lynam's colt has been a top class sprinter for a long time now including when victorious in this race last season with Shea Shea narrowly back in second. He has only won once since then in the Group 3 Palace House at Newmarket but has been placed in a couple of Group 1's including in Sha Tin behind Lord Kanaloa. One of his main rivals is Hot Streak who won the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock, a race in which Sole Power missed due to the soft ground, however when the two met at Newmarket on similar terms the selection came out the victor. Shea Shea beat Sole Power back in Meydan and they are closely matched from last year's race so he could prove the biggest danger, but Sole Power is preferred to make it three wins in the first three races for Ireland.
1st - Sole Power
2nd - Shea Shea
3rd - Steps
St. James's Palace Stakes - Night Of Thunder
Now for many people's (including mine) race of the meeting as Kingman and Night Of Thunder lock horns once more after the latter got his revenge in the 2000 Guineas. This came after Kingman had made light work of him in the Greenham at Newbury but in truth Night Of Thunder looked around 60% fit. As mentioned in the Guineas blog his coat was dull, he looked a little short of work and if I didn't know better he seemed a bit lame in the prelims, with all that taken into account he has run a massive race in the Greenham. Newmarket was a different story though as he was gleaming in his coat and walking round the parade ring with great presence and his performance reflected that.
I also couldn't disagree more with people saying Kingman was at a disadvantage by the way the race was run at Newmarket. Early on James Doyle was tracking the eventual winner before moving out wide and sitting just behind Noozoh Canarias who made the running on the far side. Kingman then picked up the lead at the furlong pole with a clear run whereas Night Of Thunder had to manoeuver through horses to pick up Kingman. What part of that suggests an inconvenience to Kingman? We side Night Of Thunder and Richard Hughes to provide England with their first Royal Ascot winner.
1st - Night Of Thunder
2nd - Kingman
Ascot Stakes - Brockwell
The duo of Tom Dascombe and Richard Kingscote have been in flying form recently and they are represented by Brockwell here who has Cheek Pieces on first time. He made his seasonal reappearance in the Chester Cup when he was drawn wide and never really overcame that draw as he was posted three or four wide the whole way. Keeping that in mind it was a good effort to stay on for fourth on ground that probably was softer than ideal and definitely not Good as officially stated. If the going at Chester was slightly off then the going at Haydock could not have been more wrong as it was nearer to bottomless than good ground. As a result of the ground they went a slow pace throughout causing Brockwell to pull very hard early on with the hood off for the first time in a while. Brockwell is taken to land this back on his preferred good ground.
1st - Brockwell
2nd - Ballinderry Boy
3rd - Suraj
4th - Waterclock
Windsor Castle Stakes - Hootenanny
Wesley Ward won the Norfolk with No Nay Never last year and he says Hootenanny is his best chance of a winner this meeting and it's easy to tell why after seeing his debut. That came over four and a half furlongs on the Keeneland polytrack but he has since been beat at Pimlico on that beautiful American 'going description' of Sloppy which is more than forgivable. On debut he showed fantastic early speed and still won going away after being challenged turning for home although he never really looked in too much trouble. If he jumps out of the gate this afternoon then it will take a very good horse to catch him on the front end and he is taken to land this for America.
1st - Hootenanny
2nd - Mind Of Madness
3rd - Roudee
NAP - Hootenanny
Nb - Night Of Thunder
Good luck everyone and as always, happy punting!
No comments:
Post a Comment