Italy to Mount a winning challenge in the Hampton Court
COOLMORE dominate the betting for the Group Three Hampton Court Stakes (5.35pm), with ENDORSEMENT and ITALY both well found in the market.
Ryan Moore prefers Endorsement, but as shown with Great Barrier Reef already this week, there can be value in backing the supposed second strings and I’m going with Italy this time.
Campaigned over seven furlongs at two, he ran with great credit on his seasonal reappearance when stepped up to 10 furlongs in the Ballysax Stakes.
He finished behind Endorsement there but was held up and ran on well to finish fourth.
That form’s been franked, with the winner Christmas Day following up in the Derby, so Italy looks worth backing in the World Pool Win and Place markets.
One trainer who always requires a second look at Royal Ascot is Saeed bin Suroor, as he consistently punches above his weight with his small string.
His unbeaten MOUNTAIN CAT is an intriguing contender, stepping up markedly in grade here.
He created a good impression on debut, winning comfortably before following up at Wolverhampton at prohibitive odds.
With limited bullets to fire, it seems unlikely his trainer would be considering blowing a potentially nice handicap mark of 90 if he wasn’t up to going close in this grade.
That inspires confidence, and it’d be no surprise to see him take a big step forward, so he’s worth playing Win and Place with World Pool.
I’ll also add Endorsement, who does have an obvious leading chance, in a Quinella.
He ran with credit when looking to make the running in a set of Derby trials, before winning comfortably at Listed level last time out, so is worthy of a play in an exotic with the above two.
POINTERS THURSDAY
Italy (Win and Place) 5.35pm Ascot
Mountain Cat (Win and Place) 5.35pm Ascot
Endorsement, Italy, Mountain Cat (Quinella) 5.35pm Ascot