Royal Ascot 2020 - Day Four Tips
- Matchday FM
- Jun 18, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 19, 2020
After Stradivarius wowed the world of horse racing with a scintillating performance to win a third consecutive Gold Cup, Harry Reynolds and Ben Wignall are back to preview day four of the Royal Ascot meeting.
13:15 – Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap
Harry Reynolds – Art Power has a leading chance, but with his trainer Tim Easterby boasting just a 2% strike rate from over 80 runners in the past fortnight I’ll chance KEEP BUSY at a decent price. She won a Listed race on heavy ground in France last November so will handle conditions well.
Ben Wignall – There’s a clear favourite for this race with Art Power a nice winner for King Power Racing at Newcastle two weeks ago. But Tim Easterby has only had two winners in his last 88 runners which is a cause for concern. Therefore I’m siding with DANCIN INTHESTREET, who could only manage third on handicap debut at Haydock, but met a whole lot of trouble in-running. She’s worth a shot at a low weight.
13:50 – Albany Stakes
HR – Roger Varian has won this race twice since 2014 and can do so again with SETARHE. She was very impressive on debut and can continue the good form of connections.
BW – One of my horses to follow from the Guineas meeting two weeks ago, SETARHE was pushed along quite far out on debut at Newmarket but she hit the dip well to win comfortably. Roger Varian won this race last year with Daayeh, and I fancy this Footstepsinthesand filly to beat off the challenges of Aidan O’Brien and Wesley Ward, who saddle Mother Earth and Flying Aletha respectively.
14:25 – Norfolk Stakes
HR – This race is all about EYE OF HEAVEN. He beat Windsor Castle winner Tactical on debut, with the second that day Get It also running a credible race on Wednesday. This horse is a beast and can strike for Mark Johnston and Frankie Dettori.
BW – Eye Of Heaven will likely go off a short favourite as his Newmarket debut win is working out well, with the third in that race – Tactical – winning the Windsor Castle Stakes on Wednesday. However another one of my horses to watch from the first week of racing was THE LIR JET, who broke the all-age track record at Yarmouth on debut. He has since been sold to the powerful Qatar Racing, and considering his sire Prince Of Lir won this race in 2016, it all adds up well.
15:00 – Hardwicke Stakes
HR – ANTHONY VAN DYCK made a pleasing return to form when flying home for second ahead of Defoe in the Coronation Cup two weeks ago. Last year’s Derby winner looks to have a great chance of securing a first win since that Epsom success, given that he won on soft going at Lingfield last season. BW – A very competitive renewal of the Hardwicke Stakes, and Elarqam’s second at Haydock in the Brigadier Gerard recently looks even better now Lord North hacked up in the Prince of Wales’ Stakes earlier this week. But ANTHONY VAN DYCK is on a redemption mission as a four-year-old. The 2019 Epsom Derby winner showed promise on return at Newmarket, finishing second behind Ghaiyaath in the Coronation Cup, and that suggested he’s got his mojo back and if he takes to the soft ground as well as he did in the Lingfield Derby Trial last year, he will hopefully be good enough.
15:35 – Commonwealth Cup
HR – I picked PIERRE LAPIN out before the rain came, and I will stick with him despite conditions suiting Millisle. However, as a half-brother to the superstar Harry Angel, the former can continue his unbeaten record and make it three on the bounce, backing up his win in the Mill Reef at Newbury when last seen. BW – There’s lots to like about the Commonwealth Cup this year, and we see many horses who contested the Guineas in England and Ireland take their chance. LOPE Y FERNANDEZ won a Group 3 contest for Aidan O’Brien last year, and clearly has a lot of natural speed. He finished third in the Irish 2000 Guineas last week where he cut across the field late on and caused a lot of carnage, but he’s race-fit and can see him running a big race, ahead of the likes of Pierre Lapin and Golden Horde who have not raced yet in 2020.
16:10 – Queen’s Vase
HR – Luckily BORN WITH PRIDE is going to get her ground. She was withdrawn from the Ribblesdale on account of the going, but with conditions now to suit and the step up in trip to bring more improvement, she can land this prize as her rivals are all a bit suspect.
BW – The rain has fallen for BORN WITH PRIDE, who was scheduled to run in the Ribblesdale earlier in the week but was pulled out because of the fast ground. Her debut win at Newmarket was really impressive and you can make excuses for her re-appearance on the synthetics at Kempton. She’s related to some nice winners but it won’t be easy for her, with Lingfield Derby Trial runner-up Berkshire Rocco running and Aidan O’Brien sending over two from Ireland.
16:40 – Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
HR – With the exception of one blow out in Meydan, DUBAI FUTURE hasn’t finished outside the top two in six other starts, winning three of those. He will get the trip and is a decent price to run into the places. BW – Mark Johnston is the second winning-most trainer of this race in its history, but West End Charmer won’t get it as easy as he did at Newmarket when winning on re-appearance. At a bigger price I’m taking a chance on DAI HORRISGLE, who is related to smart stayer Dai Harraild and reverts to handicap company, having contested group races at the back end of 2019. He lacks a recent run but quite a few horses this week have won running fresh, so I wouldn’t put you off him because of that.
Selections
Harry Reynolds
13:15 Keep Busy 8/1
13:50 Setarhe 6/1
14:25 Eye of Heaven 13/8
15:00 Anthony Van Dyck 5/2
15:35 Pierre Lapin 3/1
16:10 Born With Pride 9/4
16:40 Dubai Future 14/1
Ben Wignall
13:15 Dancin Inthestreet 15/2
13:50 Setarhe 6/1
14:25 The Lir Jet 6/1
15:00 Anthony Van Dyck 5/2
15:35 Lope Y Fernandez 4/1
16:10 Born With Pride 9/4
16:40 Dai Horrisgle 12/1
Comments