It was a very long week for me. Royal Ascot wasn't a happy hunting ground this year.
Despite a couple of winners in the final days, it is easily the worst Royal Ascot I've ever experienced. There's no time to feel sorry for myself as we have plenty more flat racing to come this year, including some of the big festivals like Glorious Goodwood and the York Ebor Festival.
Sunday's racing doesn't look the best, and after a very busy week, I'm more than happy to have one selection for Sunday.
I hope you all enjoyed the racing this week and picked out many winners.
Santorini Star (1.5pt) – Pontefract 3.40
Tony Bloom enjoyed a winner at Royal Ascot earlier this week, and I believe he will continue his good run with a Listed Stakes win at Pontefract. We have seen some useful horses win this Listed Fillies race over the years, but today's race looks fairly ordinary. If a horse could go on and win better races in this race, I think that it will be Santorini Star.
Santorini Star was ahead of a few of today's opposition in a handicap at Goodwood. I think you can say that Overture and Meribella had a few issues getting a clear run, but I don't think it's enough to bridge the gap. Meribella doesn't look straightforward and is a bit of a handful. She is a horse with a good amount of ability, and given that this race has been targeted in the past by Ralph Beckett, she still has to be respected. The most straightforward horse in that race was Santorini Star, and the best part of the performance was inside the last half of a furlong. She did lug to the right when Cieran Fallon applied pressure, which is a slight concern. However, she pulled lengths clear inside the final furlong and was eased towards the end.
The fact that she stayed on as well as she did at Goodwood gives me plenty of hope that today's stiffer track will bring out further improvement. Her pedigree is one to believe she will go further in the future. She is by Golden Horn and is out of a Listed winning mare who won the Class 1 race over today's trip. Also, she is a half-sister to Dreamloper, who was a Group 1 winner for Ed Walker. Even though her sibling was a Group 1 winner over shorter distances, it shows that there is class in the family.
William Haggas has a solid record at Pontefract from the limited number of runners he has sent to the Yorkshire track. In the last five years, he has operated at a 38% strike rate. That strike rate is from 12 winners from 32 runners, which has yielded a profit of +£14.08 to £1 level stakes.
She is the favourite for this race, but it's not hard to see why. I think there are some good handicapping fillies in this, but they will likely struggle.
GambleAware