18th June Royal Ascot

Good afternoon all and only one week to Royal Ascot.

Tuesday the 18th :

Queen Anne Stakes where Le Brivido will probably be the fav.
Coventry Stakes Arizona should top the boards.
Kings Stand should be the clash of the week between Battash vs Blue Point.
St James Palace and Phoenix of Spain can show its superiority over Too Darn Hot.

Wednesday the 19th :

Prince of Wales where Sea of Class meets Magical.
Royal Hunt Cup and as always will be difficult to find the winner.

Thursday the 20th :

Gold Cup where Stradivarius will try and keep his crown

Friday the 21st :

Commonwealth Cup we have Ten Sovereign to invest in a few gns.
Coronation Stakes where Hermosa one of the best bets of the week.

Sat 22nd.

Diamond Jubilee and the improving Invincible Army could be hard to beat.


It’s still a week to go and final fields still to be announced, we can look forward to watching many top class horses and some top class racing.

My early selections would be BATTASH, PHOENIX OF SPAIN, STRADIVARIUS and HERMOSA .
INVINCIBLE ARMY is a strong EW selection.
A daily update will be on the site.

On the local front the JULY could not get any better and has the potential to be one of the strongest and best July’s for years.

I have spent a few good weeks in KZN over the last couple of months and we have really enjoyed, the racing vibe, including trips to the well run Goosen stables, the Stud farm at Rathmor/ Macrath, bunny chow at H/W, live shows at Tina’s in Kloof and the GRANDKIDS.
Will certainly be back for an extended stay over the July period .
We might also have our first runner in the next couple of weeks, Noble Diana, look forward to having a runner again in this long term, difficult breeding game.

Good Punting

Let’s hope the rain goes away for Royal Ascot


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This will be a superb race ...

Crystal Ocean is being targeted at the Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot next week with Frankie Dettori booked to ride.

The five-year-old, who also had the option of going for back-to-back victories in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes, had the services of the Italian jockey in a workout on the Al Bahathri Polytrack in Newmarket on Wednesday morning.

Stoute said: "Crystal Ocean is in good shape and the plan is to go for the ten-furlong race on the Wednesday with Frankie to ride."

Confirming that coverage of Royal Ascot will also be done Live on SuperSport

The Prince of Wales's Stakes is shaping up to be the clash of the week at Royal Ascot with last year's Derby hero Masar and Crystal Ocean set to join an already sparkling line-up for next Wednesday's Group 1.

Both had Saturday's Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes over a mile and a half as an alternative target but were on Wednesday revealed to be in line to take on the likes of last season's Irish Oaks winner and Arc runner-up Sea Of Class, the smart Magical and crack French middle-distance performer Waldgeist in the shorter contest over a mile and a quarter.

John Gosden is hoping to turn around the fortunes of Too Darn Hot as last year's champion two-year-old prepares for a rematch with Phoenix Of Spain on the opening day of Royal Ascot on Tuesday.

Gosden said on Thursday that Too Darn Hot has been the "worst managed horse of the year" but the trainer is now happier with the colt than he has been all season.

I think Phoenix Of Spain will kill him again.


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James Doyle on Saturday described himself as ecstatic after keeping the ride on Prince Of Wales's hope Sea Of Class following the decision to aim Masar at the Hardwicke Stakes.

Doyle has ridden Sea Of Class on all six of her starts, most recently when the pair finished a fast-finishing second to Enable in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

The partnership looked set to be broken with Doyle contracted to ride 2018 Derby winner Masar, trained by Charlie Appleby, in the Prince of Wales's on Wednesday.

However, after Doyle rode Masar for the first time this year in a workout at Appleby's base in Newmarket on Saturday morning, connections opted to re-route the Epsom Classic winner to the Hardwicke three days later.

First race of the meeting Laurens, classy horse and imho at 7/1 is way overpriced.