RAINBOW POINTS TO CROCK OF GOLD
TRADITIONALLY the opening day of Royal Ascot is all about top quality with only one handicap — the Ascot Stakes (5.00) — on the card and that’s the one we are concentrating on.
It’s run over two-and-ahalf miles, so it’s hardly surprising to see the jumps trainers do well in the contest.
Nine out of the last 10 winners have come from stables whose day job is sending out winners over the sticks.
Willie Mullins is the only multiple scorer over the last decade but this is far from a strong trends event with the most relevant being:
An official rating no higher than 95.
Drawn no lower than seven.
Not ridden by apprentice with a claim.
Those statistics reduce the field by 13, so we are down to Endless Acres, Galizzi, Who Dares Wins, Moorside, Cartwright, Wolfcatcher and Rainbow Dreamer as possibles.
The handlers of Endless Acres, Moorside and Cartwright don’t have any record training jumpers, while the ex-Godolpin Galizzi looked a non-stayer in this last season and has an 11-month absence to overcome.
Wolfcatcher was well beaten in this race last year.
Who Dares Wins is the obvious one judged on his unlucky Chester Cup effort. A negative is he has been on the go a long time without a break as has his stablemate RAINBOW DREAMER.
However, the Andrea Atzeni-ridden fouryear-old has had a bit of a rest since his Newbury victory, is a guaranteed stayer and is worth 2pts win at a general 14-1.