Royal Ascot Day One Racing Tips – Charyn can land Queen Anne Stakes

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A week of quality flat racing commences at Royal Ascot on Tuesday. I'll be previewing the main races of each day from Tuesday through to Saturday, along with my main bets for each race.

Ascot 2.30 – Queen Anne Stakes – Charyn 7/2

I feel like Royal Ascot has come around quicker than normal and we’re already two months into the flat season. To kickstart Royal Ascot we have the Queen Anne Stake Group 1 which is over a mile and on paper it looks like a competitive renewal, and a bit of a head-scratcher when trying to pick the winner.

Audience

Audience has really set the cat amongst the pigeons with his Group 1 win in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury a month ago. That win came out of the blue, and based on that performance he has to be deemed a serious player for this race. However, for me, I think that he was primed for that Group 1 and the horses behind him looked in desperate need of the run, so I’m expecting a reverse in the form, but it wouldn’t be a total shock to see him repeat that run as on the eye it was very impressive.

Big Rock

Big Rock would be classed as the best horse in the race if he wasn’t so bad on his first run of the season at Newbury when behind Audience, but that run was very bad. He went out like a light, and if he wants to reverse the form and show his Group 1 level of form from last year he will have to have needed the run massively. However, his best form has come on slow ground and the Good to Firm ground is going to be a question mark for him, and based on that, you’ve got to look elsewhere.

Charyn

The horse that definitely didn’t need the run when finishing behind Audience was Charyn, as he was running for the third time of the season, but I do think the winner that day got the run of the race and the Roger Varian 4yo colt of Dark Angel did very well to finish as close as he did.

Charyn has started this season off with some very progressive performances. He started with a win in a Listed race, winning by 3.5L before going to Sandown in a Group 2 which saw him win by 1.25L. On his final start, he was second to Audience, but the winner got a much easier lead than what was expected, and the head start of a few lengths proved crucial as Charyn had to go chasing on his own, and was hanging to his left which didn’t help. So, seeing him whittle the deficit down to 1.75L was a good effort and will have set him up perfectly for his rematch today.

Ideally, there should be much more competition for the lead and Rab Havlin won’t be able to enjoy the easy front-running ride of last time out. Sylvestre De Sousa has had a cracking return to UK racing and this looks like another decent opportunity for him to land another Group 1.

Ascot 3.05 – Coventry Stakes – Andesite 6/1

The first juvenile race of the week is the Coventry Stakes, which is a Group 2 run over 6f. It would be no surprise to hear that Aidan O’Brien won this race last year and has won it eight times since the turn of the millennium.

There’s no doubt that this race is a minefield, and this will be the case for most, if not every juvenile race of the week. With such little form to go off, it’s a difficult task to weigh up which lines of form are the standout pieces and which are average.

Angelo Buonarroti

It is not often a debutante wins races like this, but Karl Burke won it a Royal Ascot 2yo race with a newcomer with Holloway Boy, so the only newcomer of the race, Angelo Buonarroti has to be worth a second look for the powerful connection of AMO racing. This son of Justify was a 1,000,000 Euros breeze-up buy, so has clearly impressed connections to fork out such a huge sum of money, and to be thrown into the deep end on his debut suggests he is going to put up a big performance.

Andesite

I think that Andesite is one of the more interesting runners and my money will be placed on Karl Burke’s son of Pinatubo. Karl Burke is one of the best trainers in the country and that has been the case for quite a while, with him winning the most Group 1’s in recent time if you’re removing Charlie Appleby and the Gosden team from the picture. He has hit the ground running this year, especially with his 2yo’s and on figures, Andesite has been the best of his bunch so far.

His pedigree suggests he was always going to be a precocious 2yo, being by Pinatubo who was a monster juvenile and out of a mare who produced Dramatised who was a 2yo winner at Royal Ascot back in 2022. His debut run was a good run and there was money for him, so it appears that they’ve always liked him, and with that experience under his belt and the fact he was running on at the finish would suggest a quick pace and the stiffer track will be to his liking.

Francisco's Piece

Based on Racing Post figures, the highest-rated performance has come from Adrian Paul Keatley’s runner, Francisco’s Piece, who has won two races this year, with his most recent run coming in a Listed race at Chantilly. I don’t think the ground will be suited for him today, he is by Mayson who is notorious for producing soft ground horses, and his win on heavy last time out will be different to today’s ground.

Catalyse

James Doyle has opted to ride Catalyse out of the three options for the Wathnan Racing team. Wathnan is still relatively new to racing ownership, but they are heavily invested and this season they have purchased a lot of horses, including 2yo’s, and this lad was strong as the finish after being well-found in the market at Hamilton a couple of weeks ago, so he has to be very respected.

Godolphin/Ballymore runners

It's very rare to see Godolphin and Ballymore turning up for a two-year-old race at Royal Ascot without holding a strong hand, but that seems to be the case for this race. Both teams don’t seem to have outstanding claims with their runners, but improvement from young horses can come at a quick rate, so go against them at your own will.

Ascot 3.45 – King Charles III Stakes – Rogue Lightning 15/2 EW

The third race of the day is the King Charles III Stakes and on paper, it looks like another tricky puzzle to solve.

Rogue Lightning

Plenty come here with strong claims but I've gone for the Tom Clover-trained Rogue Lightning who in my opinion is far too big of a price, having made an encouraging seasonal return at Haydock when unfavoured by testing ground and looking in need of the run. I was impressed with his attitude in the business end, which saw him make up some nice ground without landing a blow on the eventual winner. With race fitness now on his side, I fully expect him to improve and the forecast faster ground should also see him in a better light.

Last term, the four-year-old swiftly progressed through the handicap system, impressing everyone with his performances. His run in the prestigious Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines was a cracking effort and it was the eye-catching piece of form that I kept going back to when trying to pick out a horse from this bunch. He was drawn poorly and denied a run on multiple occasions. Regardless, he traveled well throughout, showing some nice speed and finishing the race on the bridle.

Other runners to consider

Of the rest, plenty come here with strong claims. Big Evs comes here in the form of his life after recently landing a Listed Class One at York, a Group 1 over in America, and a Group 2 at Doncaster within his last three runs. Believing recently caused an upset when landing a Class One Listed at Haydock, turning over the short-priced favorite Live In The Dream.

Most firms are offering extra places on this race and at 15/2, my selection is just about worth playing as an each-way selection.

Ascot 4.25 – St James Palace Stakes – Unquestionable 28/1 EW

I was initially going to sit this race out, however, I've changed my mind last minute and have now decided on having a small wager on the outsider of the field Unquestionable. My selection for this contest was marked up as big as 33s but has now shortened a tad into 28s. It's a ridiculous price for a horse who has form at Group One level in such a small runner affair.

My selection finished a length behind Rosalliion in the Lagardere, he then won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf on firm ground only two starts ago and then finished fourth to Rosallion in the Irish Guineas on his return. His fourth behind Rosallion came after half a year of the track and it is easy to excuse the run on that basis.

With no confirmed pace angle in the rest of the field, I'll be surprised if Unquestionable isn't sent forward from stall 3 in the attempt to make all. If on top of his game, he could very easily be a hard horse to peg back and if going for front-running tactics, you'll at the very least get a run for your money.

The favourites

In regards to those at the head of the market, Notable Speech is far too short at 11/10 given the pure depth of this race. Rosallion is a horse that I'm a massive fan of. He will need luck running from stall one, which was enough to put me off laying him as a bet.

Henry Longfellow probably prefers the ground a bit more on the soft side and has to bounce back after a below-par run over in France recently, a race won by Metropolitian who contests here also but is five times the price of the O'Brien runner.

Ed Walker's Almaqam is an interesting runner, he's improved massively this year and his most recent win in a listed event at Sandown was an eye-catching one. He of course has to step forward again but at 25s, he could represent another each-way angle into the race.

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