Royal Ascot continues on Wednesday afternoon with another seven competitive contests for punters to dive into. The day’s feature race is the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes which has attracted a small but select field, including Sir Michael Stoute’s progressive four-year-old Bay Bridge. Our expert editor has delved into all seven races on Wednesday and has provided a selection to follow in each of them. Check out their thoughts below, alongside BetUK‘s exclusive Royal Ascot offer, where new customers can claim £50 In Free Bets when placing a £10 bet.
LADY TILBURY – (2.30 Ascot, Queen Mary Stakes)
American trainer Wesley Ward will be confident Love Reigns can provide him with his fifth success in the Queen Mary Stakes. The U S Navy Flag filly blitzed her rivals in the style of an exceptional sprinter at Keeneland back in April and is entitled to the utmost respect here. Similar comments also apply to Karl Burke’s runner Dramatised, who despite showing clear signs of greenness on her debut at Newmarket, thumped her rivals in a similar fashion and recorded a very impressive time in the process.
However, at the prices, it could pay to take a chance on LADY TILBURY, who has proven to be a shrewd acquisition to David Marnane’s County Tipperary yard. Purchased for just 18,000gns, the Bated Breath filly has improved with each of her three starts this season for connections. Narrowly beaten on her debut at Dundalk back in April, she soon went one place better when comfortably getting off the mark at Cork the following month – pulling away impressively of her thirteen rivals to win by three lengths over the minimum trip.
Sent to her local track on her most recent outing, Lady Tilbury comfortably defeated a useful yardstick in Michael O’Callaghan’s Mehmar – had previously been placed behind Royal Ascot bound, and highly-regarded Ballydolye duo The Antarctic and Blackbeard at Naas and the Curragh respectively. Currently available at double-figure odds, Lady Tilbury is well worth supporting on her first crack at Group company on Wednesday afternoon and whilst she may not represent powerful connections, it’s worth remembering that the yard has previously tasted Royal Ascot success on two occasions in the past and are clearly capable of readying one for the big occasion.
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ELDAR ELDAROV – (3.05 Ascot, Queen’s Vase)
ELDAR ELDAROV was flagged up as one of our ten to follow from Roger Varian’s yard in our GG Stable Tour back in April and it would be no surprise to see the expensive son of Dubawi maintain his unbeaten record with another impressive display in the Group 2 Queen’s Vase.
Purchased for £480,000 at the Arqana Breeze-Ups at Doncaster last May, the well-bred colt created a big impression on his debut at Nottingham over a mile back in October – recording an impressive timefigure after stretching clear of his seven rivals to win by five lengths. Stepped up to ten furlongs on his seasonal return at Newcastle last month, Eldar Eldarov produced another smart performance to take his record to a perfect 2 from 2 – quickening up well and staying on strongly inside the final furlong to defeat three subsequent winners.
Blessed with an outstanding pedigree, the unbeaten Dubawi colt should have little trouble in handling the step up to 1¾m on Wednesday afternoon, and whilst several in here bring rock-solid form to the table, Roger Varian’s progressive three-year-old could be a colt right out of the top drawer and connections clearly feel that he will make an immediate impact at Group level.
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BAY BRIDGE – (3.40 Ascot, Prince Of Wales’s Stakes)
Although he failed to win either of his two starts as a juvenile, BAY BRIDGE has quickly developed into a highly-talented colt for trainer Sir Michael Stoute, winning his last five starts and establishing himself as a Group 1 winner in the making.
The son of New Bay simply thrived last season during his 3yo campaign, landing back-to-back handicap contests at Newbury and York before displaying a determined attitude to get the better of Majestic Dawn in the Listed James Seymour Stakes at Newmarket in October.
Returning from a 208-day break in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown last month, the four-year-old produced a staggering performance to provide Sir Michael Stoute with his twelfth success in the Group 3 ten furlong contest – the colt quickening right away from his four rivals, which included dual Group 3 scorer Mostahdaf and Group 1 winners Addeybb and Lord Glitters.
Whilst he is yet to encounter fast ground, Bay Bridge is bred to handle the quicker surface underfoot on Wednesday afternoon and connections will be confident that the four-year-old can emulate Sir Michael Stoute’s 2018 winner Poet’s Word and complete the famous Brigadier Gerard / Prince Of Wales’s Stakes double.
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BASHKIROVA – (4.20 Ascot, Duke Of Cambridge Stakes)
Saffron Beach and Mother Earth bring solid Group 1 form to the table in this Group 2 contest and are entitled to the utmost respect now dropping back down in grade. However, they both have something to prove after their most recent performances and face a rapidly-improving type in William Haggas’ BASHKIROVA.
The daughter of Pivotal made huge strides during her 3yo campaign last season, winning her first three outings on track in the style of an above-average filly. Disappointing when stepped up to ten furlongs at Doncaster on her final start at three, Bashkirova has wasted little time in returning to form this campaign back at her optimum trip – finishing second in Listed company at Goodwood before producing a career-best to comfortably land the Group 3 Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Epsom’s Derby meeting.
It’s highly likely that William Haggas has had this Group 2 contest on the agenda for Bashkirova since the start of the season and providing the filly handles the relatively short turnaround, the four-year-old can land her fifth career success and remains open to any amount of improvement on just her seventh racecourse outing.
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ARATUS – (5.00 Ascot, Royal Hunt Cup)
It’s difficult to have a solid opinion in this wide-open 30-runner handicap but it is traditionally a race that throws up its fair share of surprises, with just one favourite obliging in the last thirteen renewals. With that being the case, it’s certainly worth supporting one at a bigger price here and it could pay to take a chance on ARATUS for Clive Cox and Adam Kirby.
After comfortably winning on his final juvenile start at Kempton, Clive Cox’s charge went on to enjoy a productive 3yo campaign last season – winning all three starts and defeating some useful types along the way, including David O’Meara’s talented handicapper Escobar at Goodwood back in August.
Too keen to land a telling blow on his seasonal return in the Listed King Richard III Stakes at Leicester in April, Aratus faired significantly better in his following outing back in handicap company in the Victoria Cup at Ascot. Fairing best of those who were drawn low on that occasion – the first three home that day were drawn 27, 26 and 28 – the four-year-old was far from disgraced when finishing ninth and certainly gave the impression that he would benefit from stepping up in trip. Proven on fast ground and with form figures of 2-1-1-3-9 on straight tracks, it would be no surprise to Aratus outrun his current odds and a mark of 101 is certainly not beyond him as he steps up to a mile for the first time on Wednesday.
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LITTLE BIG BEAR – (5.35 Ascot, Windsor Castle Stakes)
Aidan O’Brien landed the Windsor Castle Stakes in 2015 and 2019 with Washington DC and Southern Hills respectively and appears to have another leading contender in this year’s renewal in the form of LITTLE BIG BEAR, who was certainly well suited to the minimum trip when opening his account at Naas last month.
Narrowly denied by Ger Lyons’ Tough Talk over six furlongs on his debut at the Curragh back in April, the son of No Nay Never made no mistake on his next outing, producing a dominant display over five furlongs to win by a comfortable three lengths and leave his eight rivals toiling in behind.
Still open to any amount of improvement, Little Big Bear will be tough to overhaul if handling the likely quicker ground on Wednesday afternoon, and the strapping colt appears to be another highly-talented juvenile in the making for trainer Aidan O’Brien.
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WHITE MOONLIGHT – (6.10 Ascot, Kensington Palace Stakes)
Trainer David Loughnane was responsible for the 1-2 in the inaugural contest last year and will be confident of a bold show from last season’s runner-up Ffion, who recently returned to winning ways at Chester’s May festival, whilst the Irish challenge seems to be spearheaded by Haziya, who was an impressive winner on stable debut at Leopardstown and was far from disgraced when finishing third in a valuable handicap at the Curragh last month from a 13lb higher mark.
However, the one runner who could be dangerously well-treated is certainly Saeed bin Suroor’s WHITE MOONLIGHT. The five-year-old mare won both of her two starts as a juvenile back in 2019 and despite not being seen on the track for 971 days, she confirmed she retained plenty of ability when running an eye-catching race at Chelmsford at the start of the month. Despite pulling noticeably hard for the majority of the twelve-furlong contest, White Moonlight finished a respectable third and only weakened well inside the final furlong, where a lack of a recent run ultimately took its toll.
The five-year-old should strip significantly fitter following her comeback effort on the all-weather at Chelmsford and considering top connections have decided to keep her in training at this stage of her career, a mark of 92 could seriously underestimate her ahead of her first start in handicap company.
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Royal Ascot Day 2 Selections
LADY TILBURY – (2.30 Ascot, Queen Mary Stakes) 16/1
ELDAR ELDAROV – (3.05 Ascot, Queen’s Vase) 4/1
BAY BRIDGE – (3.40 Ascot, Prince Of Wales’s Stakes) 11/8
BASHKIROVA – (4.20 Ascot, Duke Of Cambridge Stakes) 5/1
ARATUS – (5.00 Ascot, Royal Hunt Cup) 40/1
LITTLE BIG BEAR – (5.35 Ascot, Windsor Castle Stakes) 5/2
WHITE MOONLIGHT – (6.10 Ascot, Kensington Palace Stakes) 8/1
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