DOUBLE HANDFUL

WHAT a difference a year makes.

Despite the devastation, disruption and drawbacks this dreaded coronavirus has caused, remarkably Royal Ascot as a fixture has remained defiantly steadfast in the racing calendar.

Admittedly, it’s a Royal Ascot without any royals, without the highlycoiffured crowd and that curious breed of people known as bookmakers.

The only constant Royal Ascot will have this year is that it’s likely to be costing me money.

As someone smarter than me once said, “Hope makes for a good breakfast but a bad supper.”

Refusing to learn from experience I head into battle with the bookies believing I have got the edge over them in knowledge and expertise, if not cold hard cash.

One slight difference is that the opening showpiece, the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes which usually kickstarts proceedings, has been moved to the second race of the day.

This way I hang on to my money for at least 35 minutes longer than usual.

Aidan O’Brien’s Circus Maximus is certainly the obvious choice in the Queen Anne.

Being trained by the Master of Ballydoyle is a compelling enough argument in its own right to back the favourite.

Circus Maximus took advantage of a favourable draw to win the St James’s Palace Stakes here last year, somehow repelling the effort of Too Darn Hot, who looked a certainty to glide past him at the death.

I still believe, though, that Circus Maximus is better over a longer trip and that the straight mile at Ascot won’t suit.

At 3-1 he’s plenty short enough and that’s why I’ll be tucking into some each-way value with DUKE OF

HAZZARD.

Paul Cole has racked up 21 winners at Royal Ascot and his four-year old looks to have improved in leaps and bounds.

A third in the 2018 Chesham Stakes was followed by a fifth in last year’s Jersey Stakes. Since then he’s had three wins on the bounce, including the Group 2 Celebration Mile at Goodwood.