It’s not often the bookies see a piece of evidence and don’t act accordingly these days but the revised quotes about KERDOS for the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot still look way wide of the mark after his superb Betfred Temple Stakes win at Haydock on Saturday.
Bet365 hung 33/1 about him afterwards and that will have likely gone by the time you read this, grab it if you can, but Paddy Power and Betfair Sportsbook are 25s, with Betfred and Unibet 20s, and anything bigger than 10/1 looks worth snapping up.
Clive Cox is a master with sprinters as they mature and he looks to be nurturing Kerdos’ four-year-old campaign just like he did with his sire, Profitable, who completed the Palace House-Temple-King’s Stand trifecta back in 2016 when he was a 4yo.
Kerdos couldn’t quite win the Palace House, but he was an unlucky loser and he made up for that with a decisive Temple Stakes success over last year’s Nunthorpe winner, Live In The Dream, who isn’t in at Ascot with the track deemed to stiff for him.
There were worries about the soft ground for Kerdos on Saturday, but he proved himself on the conditions and you have to think he’ll be even better on likely faster ground at Royal Ascot. At least if we do have a wet start to the meeting we know it won’t inconvenience him.
He’s improving rapidly and Ascot’s five looks absolutely perfect for him. He’s quick enough for a rapid five as he proved at Haydock, but a stiff five is even more up his street and he’s a remarkably big price compared to several of those ahead of him in the betting.
After all, he’s just slammed Rogue Lightning by four lengths and that horse is 8/1 and 10/1 for the King Charles III, while Asfoora, 7/1 for Ascot, was put in her place by him at Haydock, too.
Mitbaahy could be a player after winning the Greenlands Stakes on the same afternoon, but I thought he improved for six furlongs and Kerdos might just have too many guns for him over five.
Big Evs is favourite after a nice return in a race he should’ve won at York, but I'd argue Kerdos looks on a par with him after Saturday and I’d have him much much shorter in the betting. He should be backed accordingly.
Preview posted at 1500 BST on 25/05/24
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