One of the season’s highlights, Royal Ascot, kicks off in just a week’s time, and in the run-up to the meeting, we’ve identified the leading contenders from the top stables – beginning with Charlie Appleby’s best chances. Check these out below, along with SBK‘s exclusive deposit £10 receive £30 in Free Bets‘ new customer offer.
NOBLE STYLE – (Coventry Stakes, 3:05pm Tuesday) 3/1
Charlie Appleby has chances in Royal Ascot’s opening Queen Anne Stakes with Master Of The Seas, but Baaeed sets a high standard in that contest, and therefore his first real ‘strong’ chance appears to come in the following Coventry Stakes, where he sends out NOBLE STYLE.
This Kingman colt was a 525,000 guineas yearling purchase back in October, being the second foal out of Listed winner Eartha Kitt, herself a half-sister to 2018 Chesham Stakes winner Arthur Kitt – with the two out of 2012 Queen Mary winner Ceiling Kitty.
Noble Style, therefore, certainly has the pedigree for Royal Ascot, and he made a very striking debut when landing a 5f novice at Ascot last month. Going up a furlong in trip looks a likely plus on the evidence of that win, and it’s notable that the three directly behind Noble Style at Ascot have all won since, so the form looks decent.
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COROEBUS – (St James’s Palace Stakes, 4:20pm Tuesday) 2/5
Bookmakers feel that Charlie Appleby’s strongest chance of success at Royal Ascot 2022 comes in the form of COROEBUS, who is entered in the St James’s Palace Stakes – the feature race on the first day of Royal Ascot.
Coroebus was one of last season’s leading juveniles and he showed to have trained on sufficiently at 3 when landing the 2000 Guineas on seasonal reappearance, accounting for stablemate and race favourite Native Trail, who has since franked the form in the Irish 2000 Guineas.
Charlie Appleby nominated the St James’s Palace Stakes as Coroebus’s intended target on the back of that Newmarket success, and whilst all four of the colt’s starts to date have come at HQ, there appears to be no obvious reason as to why he wouldn’t handle Ascot – so it’s no shock to see him trading at prohibitive odds here.
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LIFE OF DREAMS – (Ribblesdale Stakes, 3:40pm Thursday) 5/1
The first foal out of the connections’ own 1m4f Group 2 winner Endless Time, LIFE OF DREAMS looked like a potentially smart filly in her own right when justifying odds-on favouritism in a Newbury maiden on debut earlier this season.
Upped to Group 3 level in the Musidora Stakes at York subsequently, Life Of Dreams was far from disappointing in finishing second that day, with the winner, Emily Upjohn, looking very unfortunate not to land the Epsom Oaks over the weekend.
Life Of Dreams is entitled to have learnt from that extra racecourse experience, and on both running style and pedigree, she looks a likely improver for the step up to 1m4f in next Thursday’s Ribblesdale Stakes. Granted that there is no future Group 1 filly lurking in this line-up, Life Of Dreams looks sure to put up a bold showing.
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OTTOMAN FLEET – (King Edward VII Stakes, 5:35pm Friday) 9/2
Charlie Appleby last took the King Edward VII Stakes with Old Persian in 2018, and he holds live claims of adding to that tally in 2022 with OTTOMAN FLEET.
This Sea The Stars gelding went agonisingly close to making a winning debut at Newbury in April, finding the line just coming too soon when attempting to run down his stablemate Natural World.
Ottoman Fleet readily accounted for that near-miss upped into Listed company at Newmarket next time out, however, staying on well for pressure to score by a half-length, that despite stumbling when leaving the stalls.
He looks set to go off favourite for Friday’s King Edward VII Stakes, where the step up to 1m4f is expected to eke out some further improvement.
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HURRICANE LANE – (Hardwicke Stakes, 3:40pm Saturday) 11/10
One of Charlie Appleby’s stable stars, HURRICANE LANE, looks set to make his eagerly anticipated seasonal debut in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot next Saturday.
This son of Frankel enjoyed an excellent 3yo campaign, winning five of his seven starts (inc. three Group 1s), his only defeats being third-place finishes in the Epsom Derby and the Arc de Triomphe.
Despite his obvious commercial value at stud connections have somewhat sportingly decided to keep Hurricane Lane in training as a 4yo, presumably for another tilt at Longchamp in October. Dropped to Group 2 level in the Hardwicke next week, Hurricane Lane comes out well on top at the weights and even though he is facing race-fit rivals looks firmly the one to beat.
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Elsewhere On GG
Aidan O’Brien’s Royal Ascot Contenders
John & Thady Gosden’s Royal Ascot Contenders
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