It’s day four of Royal Ascot on Friday 20th June and there’s set to be another superb day’s action on the track with seven more stunning races taking place. Our tipster Steve Chambers has taken a look through the form and picks out his best Royal Ascot Friday Tips here…
3:05pm Royal Ascot – Commonwealth Cup
A dual Group 1 winner as a juvenile, Shadow Of Light is a hot favourite to claim Commonwealth Cup glory on Friday at 3:05pm. Last seen finishing third behind Ruling Court and Field Of Gold in the 2000 Guineas, Charlie Appleby’s star drops back to six furlongs for this three-year-old sprint and is entitled to be a warm order, if he can excel over the shorter trip.
However, the Godolphin charge is very short in the betting and there could be value taking him on with the Ger Lyons-trained BABOUCHE, who looks to be a very speedy filly. She was last seen downing Whistlejacket by over two lengths in a Group 3 at Naas and shaped like there’s a lot more to come. Fourth in last season’s Cheveley Park Stakes, she has shown she is a top class performer and with mpre improvement to come she can frank the form with Whistlejacket and outpace Shadow Of Light in the closing stages.
3:40pm Royal Ascot – Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes
Harry Charlton’s HAND OF GOD rocketed to an emphatic victory in the Golden Gates Stakes at Royal Ascot 12 months ago and the lightly-raced four-year-old can sparkle in the Berkshire sunshine once again at 3:40pm on Friday and claim victory in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes. He wasn’t seen after that Ascot win, but made his reappearance at Newmarket last month, where he was heavily backed.
Disappointing that day, he could only finish ninth, but after a lengthy layoff and a gelding operation then it’s no surprise if he needed the run and will improve significantly for his second start this campaign. He’s 11lbs higher than last year’s mark and he does step up in trip here, but he should have no problems seeing out the one-and-a-half mile distance, and can get the better of the well-fancied Ethical Diamond, who heads the betting, at the time of writing.
4:20pm Royal Ascot – Coronation Stakes
French 1000 Guineas winner Zarigana may have claimed Classic glory in the stewards’ room, but Francis-Henri Graffard’s starlet is a top notch filly and is well fancied to claim Coronation Stakes glory at 4:20pm. A Listed winner of the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket, Falakayeh is unbeaten in two starts for Owen Burrows and she’s another well-fancied filly to go close here. But, the pair can be taken on with KON TIKI, who has been supplemented for this race and looks a potential Group 1 filly in the making.
Three wins from three has seen Jane Chapple-Hyam’s daughter of Night Of Thunder serenely work her way up the ladder and she was last seen bounding to victory in a Listed event at York. It forced the hand of connections to pay a hefty supplementary fee to run in this race, but that could be worth it as she could well prove to be better than the front two in the betting and she can hand William Buick another winner this week.
5:35pm Royal Ascot – King Edward VII Stakes
A runaway winner of the Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood last time out, Amiloc could be a cut above his rivals in the King Edward VII Stakes, but at short odds he could be worth taking on with a more attractive value play in the 5:35pm race. Zahrann and Nightwalker have some decent form in the book and have to be respected, but the one to side with is Aidan O’Brien’s PUPPET MASTER, who can down the Ralph Beckett-trained hotpot.
Fourth in the Ballysax Stakes at the start of the season, where he was behind stablemates Delacroix and recent Derby winner Lambourn, Puppet Master was last seen landing the Lingfield Derby Trial by a narrow margin. He will need to kick on from that run, but the Camelot colt looks tailor-made for this sort of test and he could well outbattle his rivals in the closing stages under a power-packed Ryan Moore ride.
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