Our ambassador Hollie Doyle expects a big run from a Royal Hunt Cup outsider on day two of Royal Ascot on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Racing.
Northern raider can outrun Queen Mary odds
The Queen Mary Stakes (2.30), which gets day two of Royal Ascot under way on Wednesday, looks a strong renewal with Irish contenders Make Haste and Truly Enchanting and Karl Burke’s speedy Leovanni heading a 26-runner cavalry charge.
I ride the Adrian Nicholls-trained Maw Lam in the fillies’ Group Two and hope she can outrun potentially big odds over the flying five furlongs. We’re drawn low in stall four which might not be ideal but her experience will be an advantage.
This daughter of Acclamation won decisively first time out at her local track of Thirsk and was a bit unlucky at Beverley in the Hilary Needler – a traditional trial for this race – when she was sent off favourite.
Maw Lam missed the break that day and we all know how hard it is to make up ground on the Westwood if you don’t get away on terms, but she flew home to be second.
Hunt Cup ride Regheeb has a big race in him
I’m over on the far side in stall 31 in the Royal Hunt Cup (5.05) on Archie Watson’s outsider Regheeb, who has more quality than his big price suggests.
Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum’s four-year-old is still on a progressive curve and we’ve always thought highly of him at Archie Watson’s Saxon Gate Stables in Lambourn.
I’ve always felt he’s got a big race in him and his two runs this year have been encouraging. He was second at Ripon on reappearance and probably ran better still when third at Sandown last time.
Regheeb is up against some battle-hardened sprinters over the straight mile so he’ll need to improve again to take this but I think the stiff test will really suit him.
Godolphin’s favourite Wild Tiger, who has won his last two races, could be well handicapped off 98 and is drawn on my side, together with other fancied rivals Real Gain and last year’s runner-up Sonny Liston.
Chepstow winner has Windsor Castle chance
Like the Queen Mary, the second juvenile race of the day, the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes (6.15), is ultra-competitive but I like my boy Vingeaard.
He won a Chepstow maiden in heavy ground that he hated so he’s entitled to improve for the experience and a sounder racing surface. He’s only small but has a good temperament which is crucial at Ascot.
At the top end of the market, Wathnan Racing’s Shadow Army will be popular after winning a race at York that has worked out well. His trainer Richard Fahey has been operating at a 25 per cent strike rate which bodes well for his chances.
Can’t forsake Auguste in Prince of Wales
Auguste Rodin can be a quirky horse but I’ve always admired him and can’t forsake Aidan O’Brien’s colt in a mouth-watering Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (4.25).
He’s been labelled the ‘all or nothing’ horse because of his habit of putting in a poor performance from time to time but when he’s good he’s exceptional and will be hard to beat if he’s in the right frame of mind.
The dual Derby hero’s run in unsuitably soft ground in the Group One Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh last month was a step back in the right direction after his no-show in the Sheema Classic in Dubai in March.
John and Thady Gosden’s decision to go for this 10-furlong feature instead of the Queen Anne over one mile with six-times Group One winner Inspiral could pay off as she looks like she’ll appreciate this test. She was brilliant over the longer trip in the Breeders’ Cup and looks the main danger.
Hollie Doyle was speaking to Sky Sports Racing’s Simon Mapletoft.
Watch every race from Royal Ascot live on Sky Sports Racing from 18-22 June.
