It's the start of the best festival of the flat season. It's going to be a long and tough week for us punters, but hopefully, we can walk away with the bookies' money.
In terms of the main thread, Day 1 will only have one selection, as I prefer a lot more at larger prices that will be used on the Lucky 15 thread.
We do have one of the antepost selections running, and the write-up of that will be posted here for those who didn't see it.
Opera Ballo 7/2 (1pt) – Ascot 2.30 (Queen Anne Stakes, Group 1)
I had this race between the top two in the market, both of the Charlie Appleby Godolphin runners. Charlie has one more who is much larger odds, but he should have no chance.
The main selling point for my decision to pick Opera Ballo over Notable Speech was that it appears that he is still improving. Opera Ballo was a solid horse last year, but he has taken his form to a new level at Meydan and his returning win at Sandown last time out. He has produced RPRs in the 120s three times in a row, with 126 on his latest start when he thumped Field Of Gold.
It could be very foolish to overlook the others in this race, but I am really not a huge believer that this is a fantastic renewal. Last year's winner, Docklands, turns up. He is not a prolific winner, and he won a fairly ordinary renewal last year, and finished ahead of Notable Speech, which is another reason I decided against the favourite. More Thunder has to prove he is good enough to win at this level and at this trip, and the rest do not concern me. Zeus Olympios is lightly raced and was ahead of my selection last year, but it seems like his progress has stalled.
Buick has opted for Notable Speech, but it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
Bow Echo 11/10 (price at antepost, currently 4/5) – St James' Palace Stakes (Tuesday, 16.20pm)
The 2000 Guineas winner should be winning this race if he's in the same form as his Newmarket success. This is a different track, and the ground will likely be much softer than the good to firm he was on last time, so that's probably the reason for him being above EVS.
I don't think this will be a walk in the park, as the 2000 Guineas runner-up turns up, and Talk Of New York was impressive in a Listed race at Sandown. However, my pick has already shown he has the edge over Gstaad, and the form of the latter horse is well below what's needed.
GambleAware