Irish Eye-Catchers – Royal Ascot Irish Runners
Great to see a plethora of Royal Ascot Irish Runners this week. Plenty of our eye-catchers are running, here’s hoping we’ve spotted a star or two.
Tuesdays St James’ Palace Stakes is a race for the ages. A triple clash of Guineas winners. Of those Royal Ascot Irish runners it’s Henri Matisse that appeals to me at the prices. Field of Gold is a beautiful horse with a serious engine but his odds are prohibitive. Henri Matisse proved his liking for fast ground at the Breeders Cup last year. Three of the last ten renewals of this race have gone to Ballydoyle. Aidan O’Brien said the round mile at Ascot will most definitely suit him. He has everything in his favour. 7/2 is alright with me.
The Ascot stakes is one of my favourite races of the week. Most probably due to it’s relation to the jumps. However, there are two of Joseph O’Brien’s horses that take my eye.
The 2024 Galway Hurdle winner Nurburgring makes the strongest appeal here. He recently had a prep run on the Flat over an insufficient 1m2f, which should have brought him spot-on for this. Before that, he produced a fine effort in a competitive Cheltenham handicap, finishing behind a subsequent Grade 1 winner, and he also caught the eye in last autumn’s Irish Cesarewitch despite enduring a rough passage. Cheekpieces go on again which is a positive. Also, Dawn Rising, previous winner of the Queen Alexandra could well come back to form in a tongue tie.
In the opening race on Wednesday, the Queen Mary, recent Naas eye-catcher: Cardiff By The Sea, runs at a decent price of 20/1. Her fast finishing second behind Norfolk favourite Charles Darwin puts her in the picture here. Trained by Fozzy Stack and Oisin Murphy takes the ride.
It is not for me to second guess Paddy Twomey but having backed One Look for the Pretty Polly, it’s a fair kick to see her line up in the Duke of Cambridge! I waxed lyrical about her in my last article. Therefore, we have to be with her here.
Independent Expert was a big eye-catcher for us in her last run at Naas, she was incredibly strong through the line and although the Kensington Palace Stakes is a tougher ask; she’s decent value at double figure odds.
My bet of the week is in the Jubilee Stakes on Saturday. Storm Boy will love the ground and will be in better form than he was on his Irish debut at the Curragh. He wasn’t race fit that day and I am pretty sure that we will see a different Storm boy at Ascot than we did on the Kildare turf.
Aidan himself, had this to say in a recent stable tour of his Royal Ascot hopes:
We had a few bits and pieces to iron out of him leading up to the Greenlands Stakes and while we got those things sorted out, we then didn’t have the time to get enough work into him to have him where we wanted for that race in conditioning terms. We’ve been able to get much more serious with him since that run in terms of work and it’s very possible that you’ll see a completely different level of performance at Royal Ascot. He’ll go for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on the Saturday.
By Cathryn Fry
Please note that the information provided in this article about Royal Ascot Irish Runners is for entertainment purposes only. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information provided. Any action you take upon the information on this article is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any losses and damages in connection with the use of our article. We do not encourage gambling and remind you to gamble responsibly.
18+ | BeGambleAware.org
Supercharge your bets with kwiff.
