The Ante-post bet on Bow Echo managed to win under a stressed Billy Loughnane.
It was a messy Group 1, as Bow Echo collided with the Godolpin horse from the stalls, and it lit up Bow Echo. He went wide, travelled into it like he was going to win by many lengths, but got into a battle with Gstaad.
The only other runner for the main thread ran well, and I thought Opera Ballo was going to keep rolling from the front. He eventually got caught, and there was a 50/1 winner.
Blue Bolt 11/4 (1pt) – Ascot 3.40 (Duke Of Cambridge Stakes, Group 2)
After much deliberation, and trying to find an each-way angle into the race, I ended up backing the favourite.
I really wanted to take on Blue Bolt, who is at the top of the market, but everything pointed towards her winning this.
I really liked Falakeyah on her Newmarket win last year prior to Royal Ascot, but she is a nutjob and hasn't shown the same promise. To add to that, if they race prominently, there are plenty of other pace horses in this race. Cathedral and Godspeed were interesting horses. Cathedral sat close to Falakeyah on her latest start, and given the fact that Falakeyah set stupid fractions, I thought that effort from Cathedral was big. Godspeed tries a mile, has Group 2/1 form, but the ground is a question mark.
Blue Bolt got the job done on her return to action at Goodwood in a Listed race, beating Kon Tiki, but I think we didn't see the best of her that day. The piece of form to focus on is the Sun Chariot runner-up finish behind Fallen Angel. The time of that race was 2.79 seconds faster than standard, which shows she doesn't mind if this is run at a strong gallop.
The wide stall isn't a huge problem. We see it a lot on the round course that getting a clear run down the outside is much better than sitting on the inside rail. Colin Keane is a problem, as I don't think he rides the track very well.
Ombudsman 11/8 (2pt) – Ascot 4.20 (Prince Of Wales's Stakes, Group 1)
Sadly, it's a boring pick for me in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes. Ombudsman won this race last year, and I'll be hoping that he does it again this year.
All the talk about Ombudsman this year has been about the Gosden yard saying that he will be parading with ski goggles on. Whether there's anything that will benefit him, I'll be hoping that the goggles do the job and get him down to the start in the best possible way.
John Gosden was vocal about his prep run at Sandown in the lead-up to Royal Ascot. He said that he wasn't primed for that run, but he managed to get the job done, defeating a promising horse called Gethin. Despite not winning with ease, I think that was a solid effort. He was giving 9lbs to the runner-up because of a Group 1 penalty.
On his day, he is one of the best horses at this trip. Without Calandagan lining up, you'd have thought it was a shoo-in, but Graffard has sent across the 2025 Arc winner. The ground is quick at Ascot, and that would concern me if I were on Daryz. Ombudsman has a pace maker in this race, and that's ideal. He hits the line hard on the back of a strong pace, so hopefully Rab Havlin can get the fractions right on Devil's Advocate.
Almaqam is the fly in the ointment. He was impressive in Ireland last time out, but he's drawn in stall 1. I can see him struggling for room when they turn for home, and the pace makers fall through the field. Ombudsman will be delivered cold and on the outside.
Wild Blossom (5/1 tipped up as ante-post, now 11/2) – Queen Mary Stakes (Wednesday, 14.30pm)
The juvenile races can often throw up some whacky and strange results. These horses are all unexposed and can easily improve over a short period of time, so it's hard to be too confident. However, I saw Wild Blossom run on her debut at Carlisle, and I was extremely impressed.
Wild Blossom won the same race that Venetian Sun won the year before, and that horse went on to become one of the leading horses in the UK as a two-year-old. Wild Blossom hails from the same yard, so it's interesting that Karl has sent her for that race, and the fact that she smoked a fairly solid field, she could be special.
GambleAware