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The Commonwealth Cup is the only Group 1 race exclusively for three-year-olds that allows the geldings to compete.
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At 2 miles, 5 furlongs and 143 yards, the concluding Queen Alexandra Stakes is the longest race of the meeting that the horse racing commentators have to deal with.
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Join us for daily betting tips and odds on the 2023 Royal Ascot meeting
Over the course of five days every June, top races galore take place at Ascot racecourse (the Royal meeting), and every year there are new trends and statistics to analyse.
Naturally trends and statistics are only a guide to what is likely to happen - they are not an exact science, but quite often patterns do emerge so it worth looking at races and dissecting their recent history.
This hopefully should lead to you to picking some winners. Below is a full resume of Royal Ascot’s races each day and all the conditions of entry.
Royal Ascot Tips Day 1
Join Alex McMahon for his horse racing picks and predictions ahead of Tuesday's Royal Ascot card...
3.05 Royal Ascot – River Tiber (NAP)
The time gurus will be backing Asadna all ends up but River Tiber brings the best form to the race and he’s my pick for the all-conquering Aidan O’Brien yard.
The Ballydoyle maestro has won the Coventry Stakes a record nine times over the years and the unbeaten River Tiber has a favourite’s chance of making it win number 10.
Ryan Moore will ride and he has spoken very highly of the O’Brien runner – this might even be his best chance in an exceptional book of rides on Day 1 at Royal Ascot.
3.40 Royal Ascot – Highfield Princess (NB)
Highfield Princess was exceptional last season and five furlongs on the straight Ascot course should be right up her street. Connections believe that she is the one to beat…
She is fairly short in the horse racing betting but she is the one to beat on form and the manner of her two Group One victories last year is enough to convince me to stick with her.
John Quinn is one of the best around when it comes to sprinters and he will have her primed to claim her second Royal Ascot success after winning the 2021 Buckingham Palace Stakes.
6.10 Royal Ascot – Ruling Dynasty (Longshot)
Vauban is a warm order to take the Copper Horse Handicap but I quite like Ruling Dynasty for William Buick and Charlie Appleby.
He looked like a potential superstar when winning at Haydock the last day and the Godolphin runner could be much better than his official mark of 97.
By the same token, the favourite has ran to 160 over hurdles and may take some stopping but Ruling Dynasty is my tentative vote and he is a decent enough sports betting price.
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2.30 - Queen Anne Stakes: Inspiral
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3.05 - Coventry Stakes: River Tiber
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3.40 - King's Stand Stakes: Highland Princess
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4.20 - St James's Palace Stakes: Mostabshir
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5.00 - Ascot Stakes: Irish Lullaby
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5.35 - Wolferton Stakes: Poker Face
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6.10 - Copper Horse Stakes: Ruling Dynasty
Royal Ascot Tips Day 2
Join Alex McMahon for his horse racing picks and predictions ahead of Wednesday's Royal Ascot card...
5.35 Royal Ascot – Gregory (NAP)
John & Thady Gosden could have an absolute weapon on their hands in Gregory and it is my view that he’ll take the world of beating in the Queens Vase on Wednesday evening.
He couldn’t be more suited to the step up in trip according to his pedigree, with his dam winning the Group Two Park Hill over the extended trip.
There are a few St Leger types in the field but Gregory can stamp his authority on the staying division by winning over 1m6f and he is my sports betting NAP of the Day.
2.30 Royal Ascot – Beautiful Diamond (NB)
Beautiful Diamond can get horse racing betting punters off to a flyer on Wednesday and it may be worth siding with Karl Burke to follow up after winning this race in 2022.
A £360,000 purchase at the breeze-ups in April, she bolted up at Nottingham on debut and is bred for speed – she could easily produce something very special indeed.
There are a whole host of unexposed sprinters in the field but Beautiful Diamond ticks more boxes than most and the yard are flying with their 2-yo crop this term.
3.05 Royal Ascot – Lady Eros (Longshot)
A full field of 20 runners go to post for the Kensington Palace Fillies’ Handicap and Lady Eros gets my vote for Oisin Murphy and the Gosdens.
Her form on rattling ground puts her bang there for me and I’m expecting her to run a big race, though you do admittedly need a bit of luck in these big field handicaps.
At the current prices, she is well worth an each way play and could go well. We’re yet to see whether there is any track bias but hopefully she can get the job done.
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2.30 - Queen Mary Stakes: Beautiful Diamond
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3.05 - Kensington Palace Fillies' Handicap: Lady Eros
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3.40 - Duke of Cambridge Stakes: Jumbly
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4.20 - Prince of Wales's Stakes: Adayar
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5.00 - Royal Hunt Cup: Awaal
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5.30 - Queens Vase Stakes: Gregory
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6.10 - Windsor Castle Stakes: Johannes Brahms
Royal Ascot Tips Day 3
Join Alex McMahon for his horse racing picks and predictions ahead of Thursday's Royal Ascot card...
3.40 Royal Ascot – Al Asifah (NAP)
I was really taken by Al Asifah’s performance in a Listed race at Goodwood earlier this month and the decision to pay the supplementary fee was presumably a straightforward one.
According to Racing Post Ratings, she ran to 115 on that day and that would put her clear of the field on all known form. She is likely to be a short price in sports betting odds.
Jim Crowley will do the steering and he’ll be making her his best chance of the week. It looks like a decent race but Al Asifah could be the real superstar in the line-up.
4.20 Royal Ascot – Coltrane (NB)
The Ascot Gold Cup is wide open with Kyprios missing out and Stradivarius retired and I’m hoping that the Andrew Balding-trained Coltrane can clinch a second Royal Ascot success.
Easily the most consistent horse in the race, he won at the course in May and his form could receive a huge boost if Bring On The Night wins the Ascot Stakes on Day 1.
Aidan O’Brien has talked Emily Dickinson up for some time and Ryan Moore has picked her over Broome but she’ll need to improve considerably to get to Coltrane’s level.
6.10 Royal Ascot – Croupier (Longshot)
Croupier runs off a career high mark of 99 but I still feel there is improvement in this Simon & Ed Crisford gelding and he could go close in the Buckingham Palace Stakes.
Connections deliberated between this and the Royal Hunt Cup but the yard send Awaal to that race instead. To my eye, Croupier should be well suited to the Thursday race.
It would be great to see Edward Ware have a winner at Royal Ascot this year and Croupier is perhaps his best chance of the week and he’s a great horse racing betting price for punters.
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2.30 - Norfolk Stakes: American Rascal
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3.05 - Hampton Court Stakes: Valiant King
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3.40 - Ribblesdale Stakes: Al Asifah
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4.20 - Ascot Gold Cup: Coltrane
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5.00 - Britannia Stakes: Benacre
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5.35 - King George V Stakes: Epictetus
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6.10 - Buckingham Palace Stakes: Croupier
Royal Ascot Tips Day 4
Join Steve Mullington for his horse racing picks and predictions ahead of Friday's Royal Ascot card...
4.20 Royal Ascot – Tahiyra (NAP)
Irish 1,000 Guineas scorer Tahiyra can beat her contemporaries in Friday’s Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Dermot Weld’s filly was narrowly beaten by the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Mawj in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, but went one better in the Irish equivalent shortly after and with Mawj not in attendance today; Tahiyra is trading at a shade of odds-on to claim her third Group One victory in this prestigious Royal event.
Chris Hayes takes the ride and she can land this before tacking the Pretty Polly or Irish Oaks. She is a very worthy 888 sport NAP of the day.
5.35 Royal Ascot – Arrest (NB)
One-time Derby favourite Arrest can take this 1m4f King Edward VII Stakes at the Royal meeting and give Frankie Dettori yet another send off winner.
The son of Frankel could only finish tenth in the Epsom Classic, but that was far from his true running and he should go close today with the track and going more to his liking.
At odds of 3/1 in our online horse racing betting, the Gosden runner is well worth taking another chance with, especially with King Of Steel being so short in the betting.
6.10 Royal Ascot – Frankness (E/W Longshot)
Funnily enough I’ve seen a few Jeff Smith-owned horses racing on my travels in France recently and all have been knocking on the door but without winning.
Perhaps this long standing owner can have a change of luck on British shores on Friday with his runner Frankness in the five furlong Palace Of Holyrood House Stakes?
Andrew Balding trains this daughter of Frankel and she won nicely a fortnight ago at Goodwood.
Prior to that race she was in fairly close proximity to winning machine Radio Goo Goo at Chester, so her form certainly stacks up. At 16/1 she’s got to be worth an each-way flutter.
Danger: Jer Batt
*For those of you that prefer a bet on Cheltenham, check out our Festival 2024 odds here*
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2.30 - Albany Stakes: Soprano
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3.05 - Commonwealth Cup: Little Big Bear
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3.35 - Duke of Edinburgh Stakes: Al Nafir
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4.20 - Coronation Stakes: Tahiyra
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5.00 - Sandringham Stakes: Unless
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5.35 - King Edward VII Stakes: Arrest
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6.10 - Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes: Frankness
Royal Ascot Tips Day 5
Join Steve Mullington for his horse racing picks and predictions ahead of Saturday's Royal Ascot card...
4.20 Ascot – Deauville Legend (NAP)
Deauville Legend, winner of the Bahrain Trophy, Great Voltigeur and who placed fourth in the Melbourne Cup last year, can also add this Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes to his impressive C.V.
Trained by James Ferguson, Deauville Legend went down by just a head in the King George V Stakes last year, so there should be issue with him coming here and performing first time up.
Ridden by Danny Muscutt, the gelding can go well at a general price of 7/1 and I nominate him as our 888sport NAP of the day.
Danger: Hukum
6.10 Ascot – Stratum (NB)
You certainly need staying qualities to win the very last race of the Royal Ascot meeting – the 2m5½ Queen Alexandra Stakes and Willie Mullins’ Stratum has done it all before and can do so again.
He’s also a horse that has regularly featured in the Cheltenham races betting odds down the seasons.
Winner of this race in both 2021 and 2022, Stratum basically just wears them all down for lack of stamina in the closing stages of this race.
Browsing through the rest of the field, I simply cannot pick another horse who can hold a torch to Stratum here in terms of staying prowess.
Danger: The Grand Visir
5.00 Ascot – Summerghand (E/W Longshot)
Leave him out of your handicap deliberations at your peril, but Summerghand pops up with a victory or two each season when you least expect it and today could well be one of those going days.
The form figures for his last five races hardly look inspiring, but further delving will show you that the nine-year-old was only a handful of lengths away from the winner in all of them.
David O’Meara’s 16-time scorer returns after a welcome 38-day break and he could run well fresh at a nice each-way price for those placing their horse race bets online with us.
Dangers: Bielsa & King’s Lynn
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2.30 - Chesham Stakes: Pearls And Rubies
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3.05 - Jersey Stakes: Covey
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3.40 - Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Stakes: Kinross
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4.20 - Hardwicke Stakes: Deauville Legend
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5.00 - Wokingham Stakes: Summerghand
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5.35 - Golden Gates Stakes: Lion Of War
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6.10 - Queen Alexandra Stakes: Stratum
When Is Royal Ascot 2023?
Tuesday 20th June 2023 - Saturday 24th June 2023.
Royal Ascot Dress Code
The dress code varies at Ascot from enclosure to enclosure. Click HERE for a definitive guide.
Royal Ascot Tips Today
You can find all our 888sport Royal Ascot tips, including the NAP of the day on our informative horse racing blog.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alastair Grant / AP Photo*
