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15:05 Royal Ascot

Saturday 23 June 2018

All14:3015:0515:4016:2017:0017:35

Hardwicke Stakes (Group 2)

Off time: 15:06 | Winning time: 2m 28.08s

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Selected odds by:

(1)

Barsanti⁴²

Age: 6| Weight: 9-1| J: Andrea Atzeni| T: R Varian| OR: 115| BF| CD

11/2

Kept some smart company in three starts last season and didn't need to improve over C&D Listed contest last time out when staying on in game fashion to win by a neck. Will need to improve for that run but not ruled out and his course form in a plus.

Form: 12/322-1

(6)

Cliffs Of Moher^t³

Age: 4| Weight: 9-1| J: J A Heffernan| T: A P O'Brien| OR: 115

10/1

Not seen to best effect when given too much to do in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes here on Wednesday. It's a drop in class on paper but there's progressive rivals in here that he's likely to struggle against.

Form: 78-5124

(4)

Crystal Ocean³⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 9-1| J: R L Moore| T: Sir Michael Stoute| OR: 122| D

4/7

Runner-up in the 2017 St Leger and returned in fine form, winning over a barely adequate 1m2f on return and taking a step forward when winning a Group 3 by 6L last time. Should take this step back up in class in his stride and he's the one to beat.

Form: 3312-11

(2)

Idaho²²

Age: 5| Weight: 9-1| J: D O'Brien| T: A P O'Brien| OR: 118| CD

4/1

Won at Chester on his return but he's starting to become disappointing when tried at the top level, as seen when well beaten in the Coronation Cup last time. Won a weaker renewal of this race last year but hard to fancy this time around.

Form: 845-814

(3)

Red Verdon^b³⁰

Age: 5| Weight: 9-1| J: James Doyle| T: E A L Dunlop| OR: 109| BF| D

33/1

Listed winner at Kempton last year and has finished runner-up in two Group races this time around. Needs a strong pace to aim at to be seen at his best though and there's a suspicion he will find a few too good here.

Form: 21-1422

Non-Runners

(5)

Rare Rhythm²⁰

Weight: 9-1| Age: 6

T: C Appleby J: Non Runner

Forecasts

Crystal Ocean (4/7), Idaho (4/1), Barsanti (11/2), Rare Rhythm (8/1), Cliffs Of Moher (10/1), Red Verdon (33/1)

Idaho won this race last year but he failed to go on from that last season and he was well below form when well beaten at Epsom last time. CRYSTAL OCEAN is the preferred option after his impressive Group 3 win last time out, and having already proved himself at Group 1 level in his Classic season, he's going to be hard to beat here. 1m4f on a stiff track ought to suit Rare Rhythm who wasn't seen to best effect from the front last time out while there's a suspicion we haven't seen the best of Barsanti just yet and he stayed on impressively over course and distance last time.