The third day, and indeed the entirety of Royal Ascot, centres around the Gold Cup at 4.15pm on Thursday. The 2m4f marathon is the biggest staying prize on offer during the flat season.
Matty Sutcliffe has a strong tip for that contest, as well as five others for Royal Ascot Day 3 below.
Royal Ascot Tips (Thursday 18 June)
Royal Ascot will stage seven more extremely competitive contests on Thursday. As per days one and two, Matty has six tips to follow across the card.
14:30 Ascot – Chesham Stakes (Listed Race) (Class 1) (2yo) – Nola Soul 11/1 1pt EW 3 place
It’s a tad off putting that Fozzy Stack suggested ‘it isn’t all about the Chesham’ after Nola Soul overcame greenness on debut at Leopardstown, but I suspect it wasn’t either last season with Thesecretadversary, who was second in the Chesham after finishing second in the same Leopardstown Maiden that Nola Soul won.
Trainers are habitual creatures, and given I don’t think this is a particularly deep renewal, I think Nola Soul can be good enough to take this at this stage of his career regardless if he’ll be much better down the line.
The imposing Justify colt cost $220,000 as a foal at Keeneland in 2024 and shaped as if somewhat clueless early on in his debut, breaking sluggishly and taking some rousting along to gain a position.
He was notably keen from the off and again required urging along prior to the turn for home, but Seamie Heffernan was anything but kind with him once the pressure lifted, as he picked up very impressively down the outside.
He demonstrated an impressively large stride length among clocking the fastest speed in the race, and that bodes very well for this stiff straight at Ascot. If more streetwise this time, the hopefully under an aggressive, prominent ride, I think he could take some stopping.
15:05 Ascot – King George V Stakes (Heritage Handicap) (GBBPlus Race) (Class 2) (3yo 0-105) – Heyzoom 6/1 1pt WIN
This looks an excellent renewal of this handicap than more often than not throws up multiple group performers, and I’m keen to chance two at the opposite end of the weights.
The first is Heyzoom, whose dam is a half-sister to Aghareed, the dam of Baaeed and Hukum, the latter a winning of this contest for connections in 2020.
The Dubawi colt was raw on debut at Wolverhampton when third to Sahara King, shaping as if a mile was sharp enough for him. The winner has since franked the form, now rated 101 after finishing close up behind Derby runner up Maltese Cross and finishing second in the London Gold Cup.
Burrows reported he couldn’t quite get him right over the winter, so it was no surprise he was given a relatively easy return to action when not all that knocked about in second at Leicester despite travelling strongly to the head of affairs.
The winner looks useful, and they pulled nicely clear of the third. He then justified favouritism at Newbury gathering speed well all the straight to comfortably draw clear of a subsequent fourteen lengths winner now rated 95. He looks let in lightly by the handicapper on that evidence, and this extra two furlongs looks to suit.
16:15 Ascot – Gold Cup (Group 1) (Class 1) (4yo+) – Rahiebb 4/1 1pt WIN
If Trawlerman is in need of this first outing, then this could become a match between the 1-2 from last season’s St Leger. Scandinavia was a revelation last season, becoming the first three-year-old winner of the Goodwood Cup since Stradivarius in 2017 before beating Rahiebb by a neck in the St Leger.
Scandinavia was always better positioned throughout there under Ryan Moore with Rahiebb having to come down the rail after looking outpaced in rear, and while it is inconclusive as to whether he would’ve collared Scandinavia, he was certainly closing with every stride.
It’s worth noting that Rahiebb was half a length in front of Scandinavia in the Queen’s Vase here last season, and I think he can better his old rival once more. Scandinavia is unbeaten in both his starts this season, but given he was 14lbs and 13lbs better off with the respective runners up for a length and a half and a half a length successes, you’d have expected him to win with ease.
He is a horse who only just does enough, but I think Rahiebb can serve it up to him given how impressive he was on his seasonal debut at York in the Yorkshire Cup. He travelled strongly throughout, and while he took a while to get going last season in some race, he displayed an excellent turn of foot this time to stay on powerfully and win fairly comfortably, hitting the line strongly.
The step up in distance to this trip is an unknown as with any, but he is from the family Dubai Gold Cup 2nd Ispolini and a jumper who stayed 2m4f, and digging deeper into the pedigree you’ll find Saeed Bin Suroor’s admirable stayer Dubai Future who was third, albeit a distant one, in this race last season.
16:50 Ascot – Britannia Stakes (Heritage Handicap) (Colts & Geldings) (Class 2) (3yo 0-105) – Wechaad 15/2 1pt WIN + Langstone 12/1 1pt EW 5 places
The high draw was the worry for Wechaad on seasonal debut at Goodwood, but I thought he shaped much the best horse in the contest having had to drop right in rear. He travelled strongly under Ray Dawson, but had to switch left down the outer and while he picked up smartly for fourth, the writing was on the wall from a fair way out.
He was kindly dropped a pound for that effort and while not a whole lot of form has come out of the contest, he proved he’d trained on after an excellent two year old campaign that culminated with a third in Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes.
Prior to that he took a Doncaster Nursery in the manner of a horse destined for bigger things, unsurprisingly given his form behind the subsequent Mill Reef and Scurry Stakes winner Words of Truth. He’s been blessed with a favourable high draw, and the yard won this Khaloosy in 2020.
I’d also like to keep Langstone on side again, who was incredibly keen on in the Silver Bowl Handicap at Carlisle.
He still ran creditably there, staying on strongly behind his stablemate who was always better positioned to the fore. He has a 3lbs swing for that length defeat there, and is drawn much more favourably.
Back on a galloping straight mile with another run under his belt, I’d expect another jolt of improvement for a yard who’ve had close efforts in this since landing it in 2003.
17:35 Ascot – Hampton Court Stakes (Group 3) (Class 1) (3yo) – Mountain Cat 14/1 1pt EW 3 places
Saeed Bin Suroor has run just four horses in this race in the last ten years, with form figures of 2102, including two who made a successful winning debut at Doncaster (notably 2017 winner Benbatl) thus Mountain Cat is taken to bolster that strong record.
The son of Dubawi is unbeaten in two starts having only made his debut last month. He created a very smart impression at Doncaster, drawing away from a subsequent winner with a sharp final furlong. The fourth has also franked that form since, and the third was rated 92 so it didn’t appear to be no fluke.
He was entitled to back that up under a penalty at Wolverhampton two weeks later, making all in visually impressive style under hands and heels. The second franked that form when a winner on Monday.
He obviously has to find another chunk of improvement, but he’s bred on a strong Teofilo x Dubawi cross and his trainer has to be given the utmost respect at this meeting.
Matthew Sutcliffe’s Tips for Thursday 18 June
14:30 Ascot – Chesham Stakes (Listed Race) (Class 1) (2yo) – Nola Soul 11/1 1pt EW 3 place
15:05 Ascot – King George V Stakes (Heritage Handicap) (GBBPlus Race) (Class 2) (3yo 0-105) – Heyzoom 6/1 1pt WIN
16:15 Ascot – Gold Cup (Group 1) (Class 1) (4yo+) – Rahiebb 4/1 1pt WIN
16:50 Ascot – Britannia Stakes (Heritage Handicap) (Colts & Geldings) (Class 2) (3yo 0-105) – Wechaad 15/2 1pt WIN + Langstone 12/1 1pt EW 5 places
17:35 Ascot – Hampton Court Stakes (Group 3) (Class 1) (3yo) – Mountain Cat 14/1 1pt EW 3 places
Matthew Sutcliffe’s Best Bets – Royal Ascot Day 3
FAQs
What are today’s racing tips?
Matthew Sutcliffe provides his best bets at Royal Ascot Day 3 on Thursday 18 June.
When were Matthew Sutcliffe’s tips published?
Matty Sutcliffe’s racing tips were published at 1.58pm on Wednesday 17 June.
Who is Matthew Sutcliffe?
Matthew Sutcliffe is GGs newest contributor, often providing a value angle for his tips. He writes weekly columns for the weekend’s racing, as well as taking aim at ante-post markets at the Cheltenham Festival. Follow him on X: @MattySutcliffe
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