Thursday, June 18, 2015

Royal Ascot Day 4 - Moore on Fire

This Ascot renewal has been all about Ryan Moore who's snatched 8 races in the 3-day span and he's far from done yet. The last day sees him with leading chances with the likes of Hootenanny, Found, Aloft and Ol' Man River.

I really like the profile of Ol' Man River in the King Edward VII Stakes. The son of Montjeu has lost his way since the start of the season but the view from connections look rather upbeat. Having won both his juvenile races last year, he was fancied to be one of Ballydoyle's leading hopes in the top Classic middle-distance races this year. He came out last in the 2000 Guineas but not many would have expected fireworks from a son of Montjeu at the mile distance. Only Camelot was good enough to achieve that distinction. It was his disappointing 6th out of 7 contestants in the Dante that was the most perplexing. It is a gamble whether a 36-day rest would have sorted things out with him but trainer O'Brien seems to portray that the colt is back in order. At a mile and a half distance, a top-class son of Montjeu can be lethal and he could be worthy of a shot at current prices against opponents, none of which have won at the distance.

The 6 furlong Commonweath Cup looks the most competitive of the day with the likes of Hootenanny, Limato, Tiggly Wiggly and Anthem Alexander. It might very well be a game of inches here and preference goes to the 2 first mentioned. Wesley Ward always gets his runners primed for Ascot and Hootenanny has a very good chance to add to his impressive win tally.

Found, also ridden by Ryan Moore, looks the classiest filly in the Coronation Stakes. She narrowly missed out in the Irish 1000 Guineas but the form worked out well with winner Pleascach a good second in the Ribblesdale Stakes today. Ervedya from France looks her likeliest danger.

Win: Hootenanny
Place: Ol' Man River, Found, Ervedya

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