Three bets for Simon Holt on the final day of Royal Ascot including a 16/1 fancy in the Wokingham.
Recommended bets:
1pt win Blue Mist in 12.40 Ascot at 13/2
1pt win Shine So Bright in 3.35 Ascot at 16/1
2pts win Silent Echo in 4.10 Ascot at 16/1
GOOD horses dropping back in trip on the stiff straight course at Ascot should always be of interest and SHINE SO BRIGHT can prove a value bet in Saturday's Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
The son of Oasis Dream plied his trade all last season at seven furlongs and a mile and, after making all in the Free Handicap at Newmarket from subsequent Jersey Stakes winner Space Traveller, he also saw off such luminaries as Laurens and Cape Byron at York in August.
However, the one thing that Shine So Bright seems to have in abundance is speed and, after seven furlong defeats at Doncaster and Newmarket on his final two starts, this drop in trip looks well worth a try. The fact he has won first time out in both of his two seasons of racing so far also looks significant.
With the much improved Sceptical and the closely matched Hello Youmzain and The Tin Man all making little appeal at their current odds (being hard to separate), Silvestre De Sousa's mount is relatively unexposed over this trip yet boasts quality form.
In the Wokingham Handicap, SILENT ECHO is taken to improve on his fifth place behind Bacchus in the 2018 running.
Peter Hedger's stable-star comes here in good form after a recent win at Newmarket, despite being disadvantaged by a slow pace, and now races off a 2lb lower mark than two years ago.
On that occasion, he was staying on strongly but, on good to firm ground, the leaders were not slowing down quickly enough whereas, on ground that has been affected by much rain this week, things may fall better for a horse who ran well on good-to-soft when trained by Roger Charlton and who probably stays seven furlongs well.
Hedger also has chances in the Silver Wokingham with the consistent Total Commitment but it is the Charlton-trained BLUE MIST who catches the eye.
This talented five-year-old has been a little expensive to follow since winning over a mile on this course in October, 2018 but there can be little doubt he has the speed to go well here dropped back to six furlongs.
Blue Mist ran well again here on two occasions last season when sixth to Cape Byron in the Victoria Cup and third behind Raising Sand in the International Handicap in July, both over seven furlongs, and looked set to win first time out at Newbury last week over the same trip when challenging the leader Breath Of Air only to be out-stayed.
This first try at six off what should be a strong pace may provide the answer especially with that recent run under his belt.
- Preview posted 1630 BST on 19/6/2020
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