Alex Hammond: High Tech at Ascot! | Royal Ascot 2020 tips

Who’d have thought it a couple of months ago that we’d be planning to sort out 36 races at Royal Ascot? It’s fantastic that the world’s most famous flat meeting is going ahead, albeit in a completely different guise. The one thing that you can look forward to is the quality of the racing, which will be as top notch as ever; even if there won’t be any top hats to doff at the famous winners and no crowds to cheer them back in. The question is, if Frankie does a flying dismount and you weren’t there to see it, did it actually happen?! Fear not, you can watch all 36 races (and suitable celebrations) live with us each day on Sky Sports Racing.

So form study, chat and debate with my Sky Sports Racing colleagues is what has been occupying my time over the past few days, well weeks if I’m honest. So after much studying I’ve compiled a list of my five best bets over the five days of this magnificent meeting.

1 Frankly Darling - Ribblesdale

This filly looked awesome on day one of the resumption of racing when winning a mile and a quarter maiden at Newcastle in seriously impressive fashion. She travelled well and once she hit top stride, was described in commentary as “stretching out majestically”, which summed the performance up beautifully. Her trainer John Gosden took the earliest opportunity he could to get her on track with this big race target in mind. She’s a beautifully bred daughter of Frankel, related to winners and her dam is a half-sister to Coronation Stakes winner Rebecca Sharp. She will progress again over this mile and a half and despite being Sky Bet’s 7/4 favourite, I’m not put off at the price.

2 Barney Roy – Prince of Wales’s Stakes

One of the many advantages of my job is getting the opportunity to talk to some of the key players in our sport. Charlie Appleby was incredibly generous with his time before the 2000 Guineas when the focus was squarely on Pinatubo. However, at the end of our chat I asked him which horses (aside from Pinatubo) was he most looking forward to running in 2020. Ghaiyyath was the horse that sprung to mind, but without further prompting, he added Barney Roy and sounded quite animated about him. I have to admit, Barney is also a favourite of mine and it’s good to see he retains all his ability and enthusiasm after his failed spell at stud. He won the St. James’s Palace Stakes when trained by Richard Hannon in 2017 and I hope he can add another Royal Ascot group 1 to his record. He’s 5/1 with Sky Bet.

3 Technician – Gold Cup

Technician? Against Stradivarius? Are you mad? Probably, but I won’t be backing the favourite at odds on and have already backed Technician at double figure odds for this. Regular reader of this blog will know I interviewed his trainer Martyn Meade a couple of weeks ago and haven’t heard a trainer so bullish for some time. So, I backed him each way then. Now that Kew Gardens doesn’t run, Technician isn’t such great value, but I hope he’ll give us a run for our money, particularly if there has been rain around at the Berkshire track.

4 Sceptical – Diamond Jubilee

Now, I mentioned that Frankie Dettori flying dismount at the beginning of this blog. Could Sceptical be the horse to send Frankie flying skywards? This horse is trained in Ireland by Denis Hogan and set Naas alight on Monday, staking his claim for Royal Ascot honours with his electric performance there. He’ll certainly propel Frankie quickly up the Ascot straight and is 5/2 favourite with Sky Bet to win this 6 furlong group 1. He is a Godolphin cast off and was picked up by his new owner for the paltry sum of just £2,800 back in August and has gone from strength to strength since. He didn’t run for the first time until October and what a fairy story it would be if he could go from debut to group 1 winner in just seven and a half months.

5 Palace Pier – St James’s Palace

If you weren’t blown away by the win of Palace Pier in a Newcastle handicap last Saturday you must be made of stone or very hard to please. The John Gosden trained son of super stallion Kingman showed the sort of turn of foot that creates wind buffering for a jockey and Rab Havlin was the rider that had to fasten his safety belt and enjoy the ride. He was a leading contender over the winter for the Guineas after two unbeaten runs as a juvenile, but his trainer chose to begin his 3 year-old campaign more quietly in a 0-100 handicap, rather than a classic. It looked a good move and he will be much more street wise after that run. Whilst there has been talk of the Derby thanks to the manner of his victory, he looks too speedy for that challenge to me and I’m looking forward to seeing him go from winning a race in the shadow of St. James’ Park to hopefully winning the St. James’s Palace Stakes. He’s 5/1 with Sky Bet to do so. Howay the lad!

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