Hugo Palmer Royal Ascot day two runners blog: 'This filly gets on so well with David Probert'

Hugo Palmer has three runners on day two of Royal Ascot 2025, and the leading trainer previews them both in his latest exclusive Coral blog.

It’s fair to say Kindest Nation is something of a social runner here, she has been kept in training to run in this, but what she needs is seven furlongs and soft ground, neither of which we will get here unless the thunderstorms arrive to ruin everyone’s hats!  That said, she is good form, her homework is really pleasing me, but as I say, she won’t have her ideal conditions here.

Cheshire Dancer on the other hand could run well.  She really pleased me winning at Leicester last time, this is much deeper waters here but I don’t think we’ve got to the bottom of her.  What she really appreciates is a stiff, searching mile, which should be the case here.

She also appreciates being ridden by David Probert, who rides her here and gets on well with her, so if the horses drawn around her can take her deep into the race, she could run well at decent odds.

We’ve said here previously that with better luck and a better start in the Lily Agnes last time, this horse could be unbeaten in his four starts, but he made no mistake at Salisbury last time to make it two wins from four.  This is a step up in grade, but had he won those other two starts, he’d be an awful lot shorter in the market, and yet he can run just as well despite the defeats.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how he goes, he is a big price and I think he can run better than that.