4.20 - Coronation Stakes
TAHIYRA boasts a CV containing two Group 1 wins and a half-length defeat in a Classic, so has Friday’s feature race at her mercy.
Dermot Weld has for decades been the trainer to follow at the Galway Festival, and he sent the Aga Khan-owned daughter of Siyouni to the meeting for her debut last July.
Chris Hayes’ partner went off the 7-2 second choice for a seven-furlong maiden and showed abundant promise for the future with a five-and-a-half-length dismissal of 5-6 favourite Dower House.
Weld then sent Tahiyra straight to the top level for the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh on Irish Champions Weekend in September and my selection justified the move to beat another Aidan O’Brien-saddled filly, Meditate , by two and a quarter lengths.
Returning for the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May, the 6-4 favourite went odds-on in the in-running betting market when she loomed up to challenge Mawj at the two-furlong pole, only for the leader to find more for a half-length success, with Mammas Girl in 11th and Remarquee back in 15th.
Tahiyra made no mistake as the 2-5 hotpot for the Irish version - she had a length and a half in hand of Meditate at the Curragh, with Comhra third - and the absence of Mawj, pulled out with a cough earlier in the week, renders this task a straightforward one.
Meditate should again claim the silver medal, ahead of Sounds Of Heaven and Queen For You .
2.30 - Albany Stakes
CARLA’S WAY created a stirring impression on her debut and is fancied to take her career tally to 2-2.
There was plenty of interest in the daughter of Starspangledbanner when she appeared in public for the first time at the Goffs Breeze Up Sale in April - having been put through her paces, Carla’s Way went under the hammer for £350,000.
Sent to Simon and Ed Crisford, my selection made her racecourse bow at Doncaster in a maiden over six and a half furlongs at the beginning of the month.
Sent off the 5-2 favourite in a field of 10, Carla’s Way, fitted with the tongue strap that is retained today, knew her job from the stalls and raced with enthusiasm in the lead after a furlong.
Asked to settle matters entering the closing stages, she duly put two and a quarter lengths between herself and Star Of Mystery, who then went in by 11 lengths at Haydock Park 12 days later.
The performance recorded a strong time and, with the likelihood of big step forward, James Doyle’s mount is the bet to follow up.
Both Porta Fortuna and Navassa Island , separated by a neck at Naas last month, warrant respect, along with Matrika .
3.05 - Commonwealth Cup
SAKHEER failed for stamina over a mile in the 2,000 Guineas and will be much happier back at six furlongs.
His two-year-old campaign showed the Roger Varian-trained son of Zoffany to be a very smart performer in the making - but without offering concrete evidence about his optimum trip during his Classic season.
A lack of experience found Sakheer out when he went off the 6-5 favourite for a six-furlong maiden at Windsor in mid-August - my selection finished a half-length second to Magical Sunset.
But he made handsome amends at Haydock Park at the start of the following month with a six-length victory in a novice stakes over the same distance.
Varian then raised his colt’s sights to Group 2 level for the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury 16 days later, and David Egan’s mount came home an impressive three-and-a-half-length winner from Rousing Encore.
Connections opted to roll the dice in the Guineas - incessant rain at Newmarket turned the ground to soft - and the race proved a non-event for Sakheer, who returned seventh of 14 behind Chaldean, with Noble Style ahead in sixth and Little Big Bear last of all.
That showing makes reverting to six emphatically the right move, and Sakheer can show his true colours.
Little Big Bear has since captured Haydock’s Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes over six furlongs and is feared, along with Shaquille and Lezoo .
3.40 - Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
TEUMESSIAS FOX has run out an impressive winner of both outings in 2023, and the hat-trick looks within his grasp.
The son of Lope De Vega looked a horse of potential when marking his third start with an eight-and-a-half-length call in a novice stakes at Newcastle in March of last year.
So it was disappointing that Teumessias Fox didn’t see the inside of a winner’s enclosure for the rest of the year, although the high point of his six subsequent attempts was when a 50-1 sixth in the King George V Handicap here 12 months ago.
Andrew Balding and owners King Power Racing opted to geld my selection, who responded with a four-and-a-half-length margin in a mile-and-a-half handicap at Kempton Park in March.
Oisín Murphy’s partner followed up by three and a quarter from Crystal Delight in a valuable similar event over the same trip on Newmarket’s 2,000 Guineas undercard, and a 7lb rise in the weights shouldn’t prevent another bold show.
There are dangers everywhere in a wide-open contest, with Aimeric , Live Your Dream and Maksud all worthy of a second look.
5.00 - Sandringham Stakes
CHELSEA GREEN ran out a snug winner on her handicap debut and has plenty more to offer in the sphere.
After a debut sixth over seven furlongs at Glorious Goodwood last July, the Hugo Palmer-trained daughter of U S Navy Flag took a step forward for a share of first place in a one-mile mile maiden at Sandown Park the following month.
Chelsea Green emerged with plenty of credit with a half-length second under a penalty in a novice stakes at Newmarket in mid-September but had her sights lowered after a seventh of 10 in the Listed Montrose Stakes back over the Rowley Mile six weeks later.
The British Horseracing Authority number cruncher gave my selection a mark of 86, and Chelsea Green proved ahead of that assessment when beating Just Bring It by a length, again over a mile at Newmarket, last month.
A 3lb rise, not to mention the venture into a white-hot fillies’ handicap, demands more - but Chelsea Green is taken to prove up to the job.
Coppice , Dream Of Love and Ma Belle Artiste sit at the top of a long shortlist.
5.35 - King Edward VII Stakes
KING OF STEEL outran his 66-1 odds with a heroic second in the Derby - and compensation awaits.
The towering son of Wootton Bassett, the easy winner of a Nottingham maiden in October before a seventh of eight to Auguste Rodin in the Group 1 Vertem Futurity at Doncaster 10 days later, moved from David Loughnane to Roger Varian during the winter.
A planned return in the Dante Stakes at York went awry when King Of Steel became unruly in the stalls and was withdrawn, so he made his seasonal - and stable - debut at Epsom.
In the circumstances, Kevin Stott’s mount ran a blinder, kicking to the front over two out before giving best to half-length victor Auguste Rodin in the dying strides, with Artistic Star back in seventh, Dubai Mile ninth and Arrest 10th.
Cue long faces if he doesn’t go one better, with Artistic Star and Continuous the podium picks.
6.10 - Palace of Holyrood House Stakes
TATTERSTALL is the selection for a race of myriad possible outcomes.
The son of Bungle Inthejungle drew a blank from five attempts as a juvenile but has shown the benefit of a gelding operation in his three-year-old season.
Making his comeback in a five-furlong maiden at Wolverhampton in the middle of last month, the Michael Dods-trained sprinter put up a personal best with a two-length win.
A seventh to Kuwait City at York’s Dante meeting a week later is better than it looks, and Tatterstall was back to winning form for the inaugural running of the 3YO “Dash” Handicap at Epsom on Derby day, accounting for Miss Brazen by a length and a quarter.
A 7lb rise in the weights was to be expected, but that success proved Connor Beasley’s mount can operate in a big-field handicap - and he hasn’t finished yet.
Jer Batt , Harry Brown , Radio Goo Goo and The Big Board are just four names worth throwing into the melting pot in a wide-open contest.
SELECTIONS
ROYAL ASCOT
2.30 CARLA’S WAY
3.05 SAKHEER (NAP)
3.40 TEUMESSIAS FOX (NB)
4.20 TAHIYRA
5.00 CHELSEA GREEN
5.35 KING OF STEEL
6.10 TATTERSTALL
REDCAR
1.20 MIMI KAKUSHI
1.50 COAXING
2.20 BIPLANE
2.55 ROCKONMECCA
3.30 MAHANAKHON
4.05 LISEO
4.45 ORCHESTRA
5.16 TALHA
MARKET RASEN
1.35 MERVEILLO
2.10 LUCKY DRAW
2.45 SCUDAMORE
3.20 HEADSCARF LIL
3.55 JEMIMA P
4.30 IZZY’S CHAMPION
5.05 SIX AND OUT
GOODWOOD
5.12 RAINYNITEINGEORGIA
5.47 ALBA LONGA
6.22 LA PULGA
6.55 WOOLHAMPTON
7.30 MIDNIGHT LION
8.05 TROON
NEWMARKET
5.20 DASHING DICK
5.55 ALNOORY STAR
6.30 CLAN CHIEFTAIN
7.05 MIGHTY RIVER
7.40 CANCAN IN THE RAIN
8.10 VIA CORONE
8.45 FOUR ADAAY
MUSSELBURGH
5.30 MERRICOURT
6.05 AGNES GREY
6.40 SIMPLE STAR
7.15 SPRING IS SPRUNG
7.50 SIXCOR
8.25 HILLS OF GOLD
9.00 SURPRISE PICTURE
DOUBLE: SAKHEER and TEUMESSIAS FOX
