Horse racing tips for Royal Ascot on Saturday
Timeform highlight their best bets on Saturday in the form of a ratings choice, a big improver and Flag to note.
The Ratings Choice
Orazio – 17:00 Royal Ascot
Orazio has made good progress to win his last two starts, reappearing from three months off with a dominant victory at Newmarket in April and then defying a 4 lb higher mark to follow up over this course and distance a few weeks ago.
That was a career-best effort as he ran out an impressive winner on the last occasion, hitting the front a furlong out and always doing enough from there to land the spoils by two and a quarter lengths with a bit in hand. The first two pulled over five lengths clear of the rest and the runner-up has since given the form a boost when filling the same position in a big-field handicap at Newbury.
This will be Orazio’s toughest test yet following a further 9 lb hike in the weights, but he still stands out as the one to beat on these terms. Not only is he top on Timeform’s weight-adjusted figures, but he also has the small ‘p’ attached to his rating to denote that he is likely to have a bigger effort in the locker in his hat-trick bid.
The Big Improver
Pearls And Rubies – 14:30 Royal Ascot
Aidan O’Brien is the most successful trainer in the history of the Chesham Stakes with six wins, including those of Maybe (2011) and September (2017), two smart fillies who came into the race having won their only previous start. This year O'Brien saddles a pair of runners with a similar profile in the shape of Content and Pearls And Rubies, with the latter making most appeal as the mount of Ryan Moore.
Pearls And Rubies certainly made an encouraging start to her career when winning a five-furlong maiden at Navan earlier this month, looking potentially something out of the ordinary as she overcame inexperience. The official winning margin was just a neck, but she was value for extra having picked up really well once the penny dropped to lead in the final strides.
That experience is sure to stand Pearls And Rubies in good stead and it will be no surprise if she takes a big step forward on her second start, especially now stepping up in trip judged on the style of her debut success and the stamina on the dam's side of her pedigree (out of the Pretty Polly Stakes winner Diamondsandrubies).
Covey showed improved form to complete a hat-trick when stepped up in trip for his handicap debut at Haydock last month, easily defying a BHA mark of 90 in the style of one well capable of making an impact in pattern company.
Always travelling strongly at the head of affairs, Covey was shaken up two furlongs out and his rivals could never land a telling blow as he kept going well under a hands-and-heels ride to win by three and a quarter lengths. It was hard not to be impressed by the manner in which he dismissed a field full of progressive types, while the timefigure underlined that he was full value for a useful effort.
Covey is back down in trip today, but the way he went through the race at Haydock suggests that won't be an issue. The better class of opposition poses a bigger challenge, but he remains with potential and is fancied to prove equal to the task for John and Thady Gosden, who have their team in top order (75% of horses running to form).
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