Royal Ascot Saturday tips: Day five selections

Hukum is hard to oppose in the Hardwicke Stakes as he bids for a second victory at the Royal meeting.

Owen Burrows’ charge was a Group One winner last year and following what at one stage looked like a career-ending injury, returned better than ever to down 2022 Derby winner Desert Crown in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes.

A return to 12 furlongs should pose few issues at a venue where he has won twice and never finished outside of the first three.

Hukum’s owners Shadwell could have already celebrated a winner on the card with Enfjaar in the Jersey Stakes.

Roger Varian’s unbeaten son of Lope De Vega is very much on an upward curve and has not put a foot wrong in his two outings so far.

He beat a deep field that included Godolphin’s Military Order when scoring on debut at Newmarket and, having missed the opening months of his three-year-old season, confirmed the promise of that Rowley Mile performance when scorching to a commanding success at Chelmsford recently.

He looks to possess enough speed to handle the drop back to seven furlongs in this and is an exciting prospect yet to reach his ceiling.

Second impressive three-year-old victory of the day! 🤩

ENFJAAR defies a penalty and makes it 2 from 2 at Chelmsford under David Egan for @varianstable 🔵⚪️

pic.twitter.com/zTfQ4SD6kA

— Shadwell Stud (@ShadwellStud) May 25, 2023

Golden Mind could get proceedings off to a winning start in the Chesham Stakes, where he attempts to join his half-brother Perfect Power on the Ascot roll of honour.

Of course, Perfect Power excelled over five and six furlongs when winning at back-to-back Royal meetings, but Golden Mind seems to have that extra bit of stamina to go with a touch of class and he could be perfect for this seven furlong assignment.

Third on debut at Hamilton, he relished the move up to six furlongs when getting off the mark at Leicester and handler Richard Fahey expects there is more to come as he moves through the distances.

The King and Queen could have a real chance of getting on the scoreboard with track regular King’s Lynn in the ultra-competitive Wokingham Stakes, while William Haggas’ lightly-raced Laafi carries an unexposed profile in the Golden Gates Stakes and could offer plenty of value judged on the form of his efforts so far.

Joseph O’Brien’s Dawn Rising can bring the curtain down on the meeting in style in the concluding Queen Alexandra Stakes.

He was a respectable third in the Saval Beg last time, but a real stamina test is just what the gelded son of Galileo craves and this marathon trip should be right up his street as Ryan Moore dons the familiar silks of leading National Hunt owner JP McManus.

Royal Ascot day five selections

2.30 – Golden Mind

3.05 – ENFJAAR (NAP)

3.40 – Artorius

4.20 – Hukum

5.00 – King’s Lynn

5.35 – Laafi

6.10 – Dawn Rising

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