Royal Ascot Day 2 Tips: Little Big Bear is the class horse in the Windsor Castle

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A good day of racing on the opening day of Royal Ascot. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to find any winners, but the horses I did have did run well for the most part, so it does give me confidence in my picking for the rest of the meeting. A special mention goes out to…Jamie Spencer. What on earth did he have going on between his two ears when he thought he could see a gap on the rail when riding Pied Piper. Utterly mindblown watching it back to see what he was thinking. He is a jockey who comes under scrutiny a lot of the time, and it's 50/50 on whether he deserves it or not, but that ride yesterday was something special to even attempt it. For the record, I don't think the horse would've won, but it's not good to see an experienced jockey doing things like that. At least the horse was placed, so money was returned.

Ascot 2:30

 Trainer: Wesley A Ward

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr

Form: 1

On paper, this race looks extremely strong and difficult to dissect the form lines between horses and weigh up what's good and what's not, but overall I think this is a very strong field and we'll get some top-quality fillies from it in the future.

Somehow I've managed to talk myself into backing a Wesley Ward horse. I was on the money yesterday when saying that his sprinting superstar Golden Pal wouldn't win. I didn't anticipate him missing the break, but I knew the track wasn't going to suit and the ride which Irad Ortiz gave him after blowing the start is quite worrying considering he's riding my selection, LOVE REIGNS, tomorrow. He had to try and play him late, instead, he blew about 50% of his petrol in the first furlong to take him from last to first from a slow start and that was his race over. It's strange really that he did that as he gets so many plaudits from everyone in racing for how good of a jockey he is, personally I don't know as I don't watch American racing, but I think the pressure got to his head after that tardy start. Hopefully, he remains cool-headed if the same happens tomorrow as I wouldn't want a repeat on Love Reigns.

This horse looks more suited to Ascot than Golden Pal. She has tonnes of speed about her, but she has a pedigree which suggests she could run over further which is why the stiff nature of this track doesn't concern me as much as some of his previous horses he has brung over. On debut, she missed the break by a little bit, but she showed an instant acceleration to get the lead on the rail. She was pestered for the pace just before turning the bend, so didn't exactly get it all her own way in front which is why I think her performance can be notched up a fair bit more. On the bare look, the race could be shoddy and the form might not amount to much, but what makes me think it could be better than it looks is the fact Wesley Ward had the runner-up in that race as well. The fact they were close in the betting suggests he didn't think there was much between them based on their work at home as the 2nd horse went off at odds of 3/1 and Love Reigns went off at 11/5F, so the fact she trounced her by 9.75L is impressive.

Wesley doesn't bring over rubbish fillies for this race, he's won it 3x in the last 10 years and has had the runner-up an extra four times in the same amount of time, so it goes to show his accuracy when planning for this race.

There are too many horses to mention in this who could have a very strong chance, but the one I was planning on backing for weeks until I found out she was running in this was Katey Kontent. I'm a big fan of Clive Cox 2yo's at Royal Ascot and she apparently clocked a very good time at Windsor last time out. I'm not a speed figure or time guru but Windsor is a track which has been fruitful for Clive over recent years for horses going on to do big things, so there is a chance she could be special. I think I'll have a small EW on her as well, though not a tip.

Ascot 5:00

 Trainer: Roger Varian

Jockey: Andrea Atzeni

Form: 22/1-1

LEGEND OF DUBAI is just about shading favouritism at the time of writing, and though he might be the boring play in the race as he is the favourite, I think he has a cracking chance in this, which seems bizarre to say in a 30 runner handicap.

I was on the receiving end of this horse when he trounced my confident selection, Carolus Magnus, at Newmarket just over a month ago. After watching him that day, I said to myself that he is a Group horse in the future and wherever he turns up next I'd be backing him as he was so impressive that day. He has been hit with an 11lbs rise in the handicap, which is more than fair and was to be expected for him 4.25L win on the bridle, and if I think he is the horse which he is, then he should be able to shrug off that rise in the weights like it's nothing.

Connections were clearly confident they had a well-handicapped animal on their hands last time out as he was well supported into 7/4F and was dropped in trip by 4f from the previous run. Roger is normally quite good at planning horses for Royal Ascot handicaps, so we're in very good hands.

It's a 30-runner handicap with well-handicapped horses all over the place, and you're going to need luck in running, but if he gets a clear run then it's hard to see him out of the places at the very least. It's a big runner race so I won't be giving any honourable mentions as it would take me into the early hours of Wednesday morning before this is posted.

Ascot 5:35

 Trainer: Aidan O'Brien

Jockey: Ryan Moore

Form: 21

I'm sorry for those who don't like favourites, but I've been drawn into yet another with LITTLE BIG BEAR. Sometimes it's best not to overcomplicate things and try and looks for ‘better value', when the value is staring you right in the face, and I think the likeliest winner is the favourite.

He's done very little wrong from his two races to date, and he has already recorded an RPR of 106 which if he is to repeat that run and not improve, is good enough to have won 9 of the last 10 renewals of this race. With him being a lightly raced 2yo, it would be ultra-disappointing if he wasn't able to step forward again, and based on those numbers, any more improvement will make him extremely tough to beat in this.

The most impressive thing about his recent performance at Naas was the final furlong where he hit top gear and he motored home in the style of a horse who would relish this stiff track and fast ground. His pedigree suggests he should be fine on all types of ground, so finger's crossed he handles the Good To Firm.

Of the others, Chateau would probably be my EW angle in the race. He looks a good horse, probably not in the same league as Little Big Bear, but a horse who could hit the frame. He has been unlucky in running on a couple of occasions, but that didn't stop him from winning at Beverley last time. If he doesn't win tomorrow, he will land a big one at some point during the listen.

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