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Key events
Market movers update
2.30 – Tropical storm 25/1 -> 9/1
3.45 – You have me 9/1 -> 7/2
5.05 – Kirat 8/1 -> 5/1
Full betting details at Oddschecker
Greg Wood
Norfolk Stakes (2.30pm) preview
Aidan O’Brien is likely to saddle the favorite in three of the first four races on today’s card and Whistle jackethis runner in this youth sprint, is likely to go with the shortest priced of the trio, Whistlejacket, named after the magnificent George Stubbs painting that can can be seen in the National Gallery, is a full brother to Little Big Bear, the winner of the Windsor Castle Stakes here two years ago, and arrives with a very similar profile, having been beaten by inexperience on his first trip to the track before the penny dropped a second time. It fell off in a very uncertain way when it comes to Whistlejacket he drove nearly four lengths clear second in a Listed race at the Curragh, and did so in a very quick charging time. Today’s good to firm ground will be unknown and there are plenty of lightly raced types in opposition, but they all have something to find with the favorite on his latest form and Whistlejacket can also take another step forward.
CHOICE: WHISTLE JACKET
Engines on the market
We have the third of our regular daily market movement newsletters courtesy of the folks at Oddschecker. These are the horses groomed at night:
3.05 – Chantilly 13/2 -> 5/1
3.05 – a French duke 9/1 -> 7/1
3.45 – Kalpana 9/2 -> 3/1
Royal Procession (2:00 p.m.)
The runners are for the first event, the one that most of the crowd is perhaps more engrossed in than the actual races. And Thursday’s list hardly excites me. It’s mostly a Windsor family outing, and it’s generally pretty boring and predictable, except for maybe Princess Zahra Aga Khan. I suspect when the Prince of Wales becomes King we may see more commoners in those carriages (nap) and could he do away with the ‘Mrs Mike Tyndall’ style for the women in the carriages? That’s Zara to you and me.
1st wagon
The king
The queen
The Duke of Devonshire
The Duchess of Devonshire
2nd carriage
The Duke of Edinburgh
The Duchess of Edinburgh
The Earl of Snowden
Princess Zahra Aga Khan
3rd carriage
The royal princess
Vice Admiral Sir Tim Lawrence
Lady Sarah Chatto
Mr. Daniel Chatto
4th carriage
The Duke of Richmond and Gordon
The Duchess of Richmond and Gordon
Mr. Mike Tyndall
Mrs. Mike Tyndall
It’s almost that time again … the Royal Procession will hit the track as always, returning around 2pm and we can expect details of who will be in the carriages at 12pm. The king is expected to return after missing the race yesterday, but those in the carriages, who are being entertained at lunch beforehand by the monarch at Windsor Castle, are never revealed every day in Royal Ascot until 12 noon.
Apparently there’s a surprise in store for those guests this week as, as revealed in the Mail this morning, a disgraced royal was on hand in Windsor. Ephraim Hardcastle’s column reads: “Prince Andrew, forbidden to be seen in public but still royally pampered… currently on hand at Windsor Castle to entertain the King’s household guests. Apparently it’s quite a shock to some, assuming he’s been kicked out, to find Andrew poking at them across the drinks table when they arrive.
This is also the time I mention the Serpentine Gallery exhibition of an artist Mark Wallinger I saw in 1994 when one of his installations called “Royal Ascot‘, consisted of a series of video monitors on wheeled cases, each isolating the leisurely movement of the royal carriage down the track on the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (respectively, as it then stood) of the meeting with, as The British Council states in its description of the work“the difference from day to day is barely perceptible, just as the four comments merge into confused chatter.”
Queen’s Hat Stakes (2pm) preview
There was always a lively betting market on the color of the Queen’s hat when Queen Elizabeth II attended the meeting and Ladbrokes are betting on what color Queen Camilla will wear. Our form guides are the team at BestofBets.com who always keep a close eye on this novelty market and state: “After two days of blue and with a hat-trick of blue unlikely, the bookies disagree on which color hat the Queen will wear on Gold Cup day at Royal Ascot with cream/white and pink , who are competing for the top spot. It is well known that Queen Camilla prefers to choose a neutral color palette, with pale pink being part of her repertoire; and with Ladies’ Day today, many believe she’ll opt for a pink number, another favorite of her late mother-in-law. The other two colors we’re likely to see this week are green and purple.
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Ladbrokes bet:
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White/Cream 10/3
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Pink 9/2
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Yellow 5/1
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Green 11/2
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Blue 6/1
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Orange 8/1
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Purple 9/1
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Red 14/1
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Grey/Silver 14/1
Here’s your lineup for today’s sports, courtesy of elegant Ascot tweet, uh X, oh you know what I mean:
Day 3 of #RoyalAscot The year 2024 has dawned and it is none other than the day of the Gold Cup. The excitement is electric as we prepare for one of the most prestigious days on the racing calendar. pic.twitter.com/uFh2USvNzR
— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) June 20, 2024
Here are the horses you can cross off today as they don’t appear
Royal Ascot non-runners
14:30 Norfolk Stakes (Group 2)
5 Evening Saigon (reported in error)
15:45 Ribblesdale Stakes (Group 2)
3 Forest Fairy (self-witness – I’m going)
16.25 Gold Cup (Group 1)
7 Trueshane (I’m going)
17:05 Britannia Stakes (Heritage Handicap)
4 Bergamasco (other – sold privately and cannot be committed)
27 Miletus (to be held on Saturday in the Golden Gates Handicap)
18:15 Buckingham Palace Handicap
3 Aval (veterinary certificate – skin disease)
8 Ropey Guest (self-witness – not eaten)
Day three, as stated in Greg’s preamble, is, wait, … not yet Good to Company. We’ll post daily traffic readings here at that time, but it’s likely to stay the same given that the weather forecast appears to be fair. At the moment, there still doesn’t seem to be much of an advantage on either side of the straight.
GoingStick readings at 8am:
Side of the stands: 8.3
Center: 8.1
Far side: 8.2
Preamble
Greg Wood
Good morning from Royal Ascot on Ladies’ Day, the traditional highlight of the royal meeting with the Gold Cup – officially no Ascot Gold Cup – as the feature race on the card.
The UK’s only Group One at two and a half miles is not the jewel in the crown it was a century and a half ago, when the Gold Cup was often seen as an automatic long-term target for the Derby Winner in its four-year-old season.
But he overcame a spell at the turn of the century when staying events generally seemed to fall out of favour, and is once again a prize every owner wants to win, not least because the reigning monarch will be presenting the trophy.
The late Queen Elizabeth II won every British classic bar Derby, yet presenting the award to herself after Estimate’s 2013 victory was considered the highlight of her many decades as owner. And it’s a competition that remains very popular with ordinary people as well, as winners often return year after year to defend their crown.
That’s exactly it Kyprios he looked likely to do when he won the race as a four-year-old in 2022, and although he was denied the chance of a second success through injury last year, he will go hot favorite to make up for lost time in the 4.25 this afternoon. The King and Queen, meanwhile, have no entrant in this year’s race but have a live contender for the King George V stakes in Gilded water on 3.05, a race they memorably won last year with Desert Hero.
The weather forecast here remains nice and dry and the good to firm traffic is perfect summer ground. Some picks for the afternoon seven races are here – showing a tiny, tiny profit for the meeting in two days’ time, so no doubt from now on – and the action is on with the Norfolk Stakes at 2.30.
A quick guide Greg Wood’s Thursday Tips
show
Ripon
1.35 Star Masterpiece
2.05 A beautiful spirit
2.40 Canary Queen
3.20 Garden Oasis
3.55 Manila Scouse
4.35 Sequel
5.10 Mambha
Chelmsford
2.15 Roman Forum
2.50 The Prince Of Darkness
3.30 Chambers
4.10 Tarji
4.50 Churmo
5.20 Mission Noodle
Royal Ascot
2.30 Whistle
3.05 Chantilly
3.45 Kalpana
4.25 Kyprios
5.05 Mikli (nap)
5.40 King’s Gambit
6.15 Bopedro (nb)
Wolverhampton
5.28 Pique
6.00 Cavallo Bay
6.35 Synthesize
7.10 They
7.40 Muttasil
8.10 Baroque buoy
8.40 Ustat
Lingfield Park
6.25 Bakery
7.00 Worrels
7.30 The Pit Boss
8.00 Porfin
8.30 Secret Bidding
9.00 Spring has sprung
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