Fine Form
It is difficult to oppose
Scandinavia RA – 4.15
in his bid to provide Aidan O’Brien with a record-extending 10th victory in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
The son of Justify looked fairly ordinary this time last year, but a staying-on fifth when stepped up in trip for the Queen’s Vase suggested he was a quality stayer in the making and it is fair to say he has fulfilled that potential and then some.
Scandinavia is unbeaten in five starts since last year’s Royal meeting, a run which includes a first Group One victory when tackling two miles for the first time in the Goodwood Cup and a Classic success over the reopposing Rahiebb in the St Leger.
He has taken the traditional Ballydoyle route to the Gold Cup and while his wins in the Vintage Crop and Saval Beg Stakes have been more solid than spectacular, the four-year-old is a horse who definitely keeps a bit back for himself and those runs were very much used as stepping stones to the big day.
His old rival Rahiebb has to be rated a significant danger off the back of his Yorkshire Cup success, while the defending champion Trawlerman must also be respected, but he has not been seen yet this season and coming into a race of this nature without a prep run is a huge ask.
Scandinavia is a worthy market leader and looks well placed to become the new king of the staying division.
O’Brien also houses the hot favourite for the curtain-raising Chesham Stakes in the form of Aix La Chapelle, but at the prices it might be worth taking a chance on the Karl Burke-trained
Revels RA – 2.30
The Spigot Lodge handler has few peers when it comes to training juveniles and memorably won this Listed prize with the unraced Holloway Boy four years ago.
Revels has already shown his quality with a facile debut success at Redcar and the form looks pretty solid, with third-placed Sword Salute bolting up at Lingfield next time.
At a double-figure price, Revels is worth an each-way play.
Tierra Del Toro’s RA – 3.05
third-place finish in the London Gold Cup at Newbury last month clearly impressed the Wathnan Racing team as they subsequently bought the first three home and he takes his chance in the King George V Stakes.
French raider
Gilded Prize RA – 3.40
is given another chance to prove her worth in the Ribblesdale Stakes, despite the presence of Oaks runner-up Legacy Link in the same Juddmonte colours.
Francis-Henri Graffard’s three-year-old looked every inch a top-class filly in the making when stretching her unbeaten record to three in a Group Three at Saint-Cloud in mid-April, but subsequently failed to fire in the Prix Saint-Alary and connections opted to sidestep last weekend’s French Oaks.
Stepping up to a mile and a half on a quicker surface, Gilded Prize can bounce back in the more than capable hands of Oisin Murphy given Legacy Link can only have had a hard race at Epsom.
The Britannia Stakes is always a bit of a cavalry charge over the straight mile and that might just play into the hands of Jamie Spencer, who has won this race four times and will likely be looking to deliver Hugo Palmer’s improving
Laureate Crown RA – 5.35
fast and late.
O’Brien’s
Endorsement RA – 5.35
looks the obvious answer to the Hampton Court Stakes, while the William Knight-trained
Royal Velvet RA – 6.10
is a Group Three winner in a handicap in the concluding Buckingham Palace Stakes and looks sure to go close under William Buick.
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