Royal Ascot Day Five Preview - 22/06/19

The first race of the final day of Royal Ascot is the Listed Chesham Stakes over seven furlongs and we have sided with the Aidan O’Brien yard who have won this twice in the last three years and they may well do so again with LOPE Y FERNANDEZ.

The Ballydole team are set to deliver another strong hand of four this time around and this looks arguably the stables main hope.

This well-bred Lope De Vega colt looks a hugely-exciting prospect after doing little wrong on debut, winning eased down at the Curragh earlier this month, and being one of the few market principals to be proven over the 7f trip he looks the most solid option in this competitive affair.

Big chance.

The next contest is the Group 3 Jersey Stakes over seven furlongs and in this hot contest we have two selections with a big field set to go to post.

The O’Brien yard have won this three times in the past and like many of Aidan’s runners this week SO PERFECT arrives in red-hot form.

This filly won impressively over 6f last time and although she now steps up in trip she certainly wasn’t stopping at the line then. She also looks versatile in regards to ground, and arriving from a short break it is highly likely she has been kept fresh for this.

Our second pick makes much more appeal to those of you each punters at a slightly bigger price. A horse the Richard Hannon team think a lot of - URBAN ICON. This well-regarded 3yo was prominent in the betting when just touched off against the favourite in this, Space Blues, last month.

With only a neck between the pair that day and the fact our selection meets that rival on slightly better terms today he doesn’t appear to have much to find. This 3yo colt has been handed the 11 berth which could turn out to be a huge advantage with the horse from stall 11 finishing runner-up throughout the last 11 runnings of this race.

The Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes looks one of the toughest races to call over the five day meeting but we have sided with Mirage Dancer in the 1mile 4f contest.

Sir Michael Stoute certainly knows what it takes to win this race, having won 4 of the last 5 renewals. MIRAGE DANCER could well be another one destined for further Group-race glory under the guidance of the master trainer.

This 5yo heads here having won well under this rider, Pat Dobbs, at Goodwood last month and although that was only Listed company, he is a Group3 winner and has featured in similar events to this before.

If that doesn’t tempt you enough, he was a staying-on fifth over 1m2f at this meeting last season and the step-up in trip may well bring out the improvement needed to go well here.

The feature on day five of the Royal meeting is the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes over six furlongs and we've narrowed down another hugely-competitive event to just the two fancies.

INVINCIBLE ARMY heads here in the form of his life after two convincing wins at York & Doncaster and is proven over C&D - he is another versatile type who can act on any ground; definite claims and we expect him to be there at the finish.

However, the fact 8 of the last 16 winners of this have returned a double-figure price suggests it may pay to look elsewhere though.

SANDS OF MALI was only third returning from a break at Hamilton, although it is worth mentioning he was subject of a fair bit of market support then and he has previously beaten our other fancy in this Invincible Army.

Richard Fahey’s 4yo is a proven Group1 winner over this C&D and conditions certainly look ideal for him to go extremely well.

There are 28 set to go to post in this years Wokingham and it certainly looks another tricky puzzle so we’ve gone for two at big prices.

Double-figure draws have been a prominent factor throughout the week and again is the case in this with 8 of the last 9 winners coming from stall 10 or higher.

Stall 15 has been placed in 3 of the last 8 renewals too, so SUMMERGHAND who represents a string of David O’Meara challengers looks a fairly-solid option at a huge price, arriving off the back of two sound runner-up efforts.

The in-form Danny Tudhope in the plate.

Our other fancy DANZENO, the mount of Frankie Dettori, returned to action with a runaway success at Nottingham earlier this month and from another favourable draw in 17, could be thereabouts.

The last race of Royal Ascot 2019 is the Queen Alexandra Stakes and we are going for the favourite MAX DYNAMITE trained by Willie Mullins who has a good recent record in this race and though he hasn’t tasted success in this since 2014, he has had the runner-up in the last two runnings.

This 9yo has held his own in much better company than this and also ran a cracker in the 2017 Melbourne Cup, finishing third then.

The trip is also no concern and having previously gone well returning from a break is it hard to pick out many negatives. Ryan Moore booked for the finale and hopefully we can end with a winner.