Hugo Palmer Royal Ascot Saturday runners blog: 'He’s one of our stronger chances of the entire week'

Ascot 5.00 – Dubai Bling & Roman Dragon

Dubai Bling has been drawn in stall 23 in the Wokingham and looks to have a solid chance. He’s a horse I feel is well handicapped and, importantly, he’s been fairly lightly raced. I think he’s one of our stronger chances of the entire week. He was unlucky at Chester last time and comes here in good order. We’ve got a top-class jockey on board and he was very much his choice of ride, which is always encouraging. Hopefully, things can fall into place for him.

Roman Dragon, meanwhile, is perhaps a more difficult one to assess. He wouldn’t be the most obvious winner on paper, and his best form has come around the bends, particularly at Chester. However, he’s the sort of horse you ignore at your peril. He has won on a straight track before, he absolutely loves fast ground, and if the race unfolds in the right way, with a strong pace and some cover where he needs it, he could easily outrun his odds. We’ve also taken another five pounds off with the jockey booking, which may help.

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