Luke Morris gives us his thoughts ahead of Day One at Royal Ascot…

The biggest Flat festival of the year has arrived with Royal Ascot and despite the soft ground there is going to be some fantastic racing.

I’ve got three rides that I’m really looking forward to on the first day of the meeting and some exciting ones later in the week as well which I shall be updating you on in my blogs.

3.05 Royal Ascot – Medieval
He wants a bit of give in the ground and he won his maiden on soft going so the rain has been in his favour. He has to improve on that first run to win this but you’d like to think there’s more to come. The favourite Caravaggio will be tough to beat as he looks as good a two-year-old as we’ve seen this year.

He wasn’t beaten far in the Palace House on ground that was quick enough for him, and ran another good race in the Temple Stakes on a track that would have been fast enough. I think this track and ground will really suit him and be in his favour. He needs to find a couple of lengths to win but he’ll run better than his price suggests and might surprise a few people.

5.00 Royal Ascot – Moscato
I always thought this horse wanted better ground than this but the trip is certainly not a problem because all he does is stay. He’s on a competitive mark and this has been his aim for a while. He was second first time out this year and will be a better horse for that run so I can see him running a big race if he handles the ground.

I’m not at Royal Ascot on Wednesday but I’ll really be looking forward to watching the action. A Shin Hikari looks impossible to oppose in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (4.20). I also think Usherette is a Group 1 winner waiting to happen and she’ll win the Duke of Cambridge Stakes (3.05) before going on to bigger and better things.