Royal Ascot: Tipping Tim’s Best Bets

It’s Royal Ascot week, but having attended Fullbrook Secondary School in New Haw, I am not permitted to step within five miles of the Berkshire venue on race-day, so I’ll be watching the action with my fellow plebs in Coral Towers.

They can take my Royal Enclosure badge but they can never take my formbook, and I have found a big-priced wager for each day to compile a Super Yankee that will bribe my way into the Queen’s Box next season. If all five go in a might even get a lift there in Prince William’s chopper.

On Tuesday the pin has landed on Dundonnell in the (to an Old Fullbrookian) grammatically incorrect St James’s Palace Stakes at 3.45. Dawn Approach is a dubious jolly on the back on a disastrous Derby run and, whilst I think Magician is the most likely winner, Roger Charlton’s colt is over-priced around the 25/1 mark. He is a similar horse to 7/2 pop Toronado on juvenile form, he comes into the meeting in cracking form, and in James Doyle he has an ideal rider for the big occasion.

On Wednesday I like Burke’s Rock in the Hunt Cup at 4.25, largely because she is one of the only interesting runners drawn high. The race on the far side looks like a thriller, with the likes of Trade Commissioner, Stirring Ballad and Excellent Guest likely to be going at it hammer and tongs, but if there is better ground on the stands’ side then it might not take much winning and Jeremy Noseda’s progressive filly should go close under Frankie Dettori.

On Thursday the best race is undoubtedly the Britannia at 4.25, with hype-horses Remote and Cape Peron hopefully putting their reputations on the line, but that race looks too difficult at this stage so I’ll plump for Biographer in the Gold Cup (3.45) as the best bet of Ladies’ Day. I have no interest in staying flat races but the boys in the office like David Lanigan’s 4yo and, at around the 25/1 mark, that’s good enough for me.

The Coronation Stakes (3.45) on Friday looks like one of the races of the week, and Just The Judge has to be a lay around 5/2 given that she was beaten by Sky Lantern in the English Guineas and had a fitness advantage over Big Break in the Irish Guineas. I will definitely be betting the latter to reverse the Curragh form but, at a huge price, the one for the Super Yankee on Day 4 is Mick Channon’s forgotten filly Ollie Olga. She beat Sky Lantern as a juvenile but, after two poor runs at the Rowley Mile, she turns up here as a 50/1 rag. It’s a bit of a leap of faith but, on the assumption that the Newmarket course isn’t to her liking, I’m going to give her one more chance on Friday.