After the drama of the Epsom Derby there is a bit of a hiatus with fairly modest racing on offer this week. Royal Ascot is the next port of call for many of the top class racehorses and now is as good a time as any to look for a little value.
The bookmakers have singled out Animal Kingdom for special attention in the Queen Anne Stakes, the opening race of the meeting. The price of the Dubai World Cup winner has been slashed from 11-4 to 13-8 with speculation that market rival Farhh may be heading to the Prince of Wales’s Stakes instead. Godolphin have stated that no decision has yet been made and this is not a bandwagon that I want to follow.
If you look at the placed horses in the World Cup they were Red Cadeaux, Planteur and Side Glance. They are all familiar names to British racegoers and it did not look a particularly strong renewal. Another factor is that we are talking about a straight mile on turf for the American horse and I think people are getting a little carried away.
If Farhh does take his place in the field he would certainly be a very serious rival. The way he stamped his authority over a good field at Newbury in the Lockinge Stakes was very impressive. On that evidence he is certainly among the best milers in Europe and Godolphin are clearly in two minds whether or not to step back up to ten furlongs. His price has drifted to 7-2 but that would quickly disappear if he were declared to run.
His Newbury victims included Sovereign Debt, Aljamaaheer and Declaration Of War. The latter was a big disappointment and no definite plans have been made for him. Sovereign Debt ran the race of his life to finish second whilst Aljamaaheer also posted a career-best. It would be difficult to make a case for either of them reversing the Newbury form but they could certainly run into a place. I’ve followed Aljamaaheer throughout his career to date and he has so far promised more than he has delivered. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with his Newbury effort and this looks the logical race for him at the meeting.
Gregorian is an intended runner after his workmanlike success in the Diomed Stakes at Epsom. That followed up a decent effort at Haydock and I liked the way he responded when passed by the free-running Producer. Trainer John Gosden may have helped to ignite the gamble on Animal Kingdom by referring to him as ” a beast” in his post-race interview but I think the present odds are too tempting to ignore for Gregorian. He is available at 51-1 on Betfair and is worth a little each-way flutter. If the field cuts up, as it usually does for this race, he could be much nearer 14-1 on the day.
Aljamaaheer 33-1 each-way Bet Victor
Gregorian 51-1 each-way Betfair
