The final day of Royal Ascot 2025 gives punters one last chance to get one over the bookies. Looking to guide you towards the goods, GG tipster Joe Napier gives his four best bets for Saturday at Royal Ascot.
3.05 Ascot – Hardwicke Stakes (Group 2)
Rebel’s Romance is as admirable as they come, gritting out a win over 1m6f last time. He is better over this distance, proving a Group 1 performer for many seasons over 1m4f, but the Hardwicke Stakes regularly hosts a useful field and he is taken on with AL RIFFA.
He was many people’s fancy for the Arc back in October, but possibly failed to handle this trip on heavy going. However, he had won the Group 1 Grosser Preis Von Berlin in August by five lengths and his run behind current Arc favourite Sosie on return screamed that he would improve for a return to this distance.
These conditions promise to suit him perfectly and we know he is capable of very high class form on these shores, as he chased home City Of Troy in the Eclipse last season, beaten just a length into second. This is a good opportunity for Joseph O’Brien’s charge to claim a first British success.
3.40 Ascot – Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (Group 1)
We are still yet to see a first Japanese winner at Royal Ascot, but the claims of SATONO REVE to make history are compelling in this sprint Group 1. If he travels over okay, it may seem very foolish that he has not been installed as favourite.
There is precedent for international glory in this race, with superstar mare Black Caviar winning in 2012 (at odds of 1/6), and Undrafted winning for the US in 2015. Although he does not have the exalted profile of Black Caviar, Satono Reve is probably the second best sprinter in Hong Kong, behind the clear world’s best in the incomparable Ka Ying Rising, who has been mopping up Group 1s in his home state at odds akin to 1/20.
That the selection once pushed him to within a length at Sha Tin suggests he could make a mockery of British and Irish sprinters, who have fallen behind their global counterparts in recent years. Much will depend on his wellbeing, but if he is in fighting fit form, he should be right there at the finish.
4.20 Ascot – Jersey Stakes (Group 3)
There could be some dangers lurking among the less exposed types, but COMANCHE BRAVE gets the benefit of Ryan Moore onboard as trainer Donnacha O’Brien’s father Aidan has no runners in the line-up. This son of Wootton Bassett could be too good for these.
He has only won one of his six starts, but on RPRs, he is at least a stone better a horse at three than he was as a juvenile. That is promising regarding his chances anyway, but he also pushed French Guineas hero Henri Matisse to within half-a-length on his return at Leopardstown.
He was then fifth as the rank outsider in the Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh, finishing closer to Field Of Gold that day than all bar Henri Matisse did in the St James’s Palace Stakes on Tuesday. He looked set for a place for much of the home straight before fading in the final furlong, suggesting this 7f trip will prove better, and his only win came on good-to-firm.
5.00 Ascot – Wokingham Stakes
Only five horses have won the Wokingham twice, and all of those did so in successive years. That would suggest the task facing 2023 winner SAINT LAWRENCE is formidable, but Colin Keane is a decent call-up for Archie Watson here and he could be exceptionally well-treated.
The seven-year-old won on his yard debut two years ago, following that up with a Group 1 third at Deauville. Things have been far less straightforward for him since, though there has been promise at times, including a 1¼-length defeat in Group company last July despite having been out the back in his bid for a Wokingham double in 2024.
That was off 6lb higher than his mark this season though, and he is now 3lb lower than his winning rating from this two seasons back. He did not look to take to the all-weather over the winter, but that has served to see his handicap mark plummet; on his final turf start, he was beaten under three lengths in a 25-runner Curragh handicap off 105, but is rated just 97 here. That race planning suggests this may have been the target for a long time.
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