Lope to storm the Palace
IT’S FAIR to say that favourites have a pretty solid record in the Queen Anne Stakes (2.30pm), with five of the last 10 market leaders obliging and many expect Palace Pier to continue the sequence.
Make no mistake, John and Thady Gosden’s colt is the most likely winner and based on his win in the Lockinge at Newbury last time, he’s going to be a tough nut to crack.
However, he got quite worked up before the start that day and that’s hardly ideal if temperatures are expected to be as high as predicted.
He’s also yet to race on genuinely fast ground and although he’s more than likely to get the job done, I doubt he’ll travel nor win like a 4/9 shot should.
The fact that LOPE Y FERNANDEZ’s price has drifted in recent days might appear a negative, but I’m very much in the camp that we’ll see a totally different horse to the one that finished 19 lengths behind Palace Pier in the Lockinge.
While he was disappointing there, it was further evidence that this is a horse that simply doesn’t go on a soft surface and good ground is an absolute must for the son of Lope De Vega.
There is no real obvious pace angle here, so I’m hoping Seamie Heffernan can smuggle him into the race and pounce late.
At odds of 12/1 he’s a nice each-way bet.
Marie’s Diamond finished third at 40/1 last year, while the shortest priced of the first three home in 2019 was 14/1, so this is a good race for exotic bets.
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Taking this into account, I’m going to recommend sticking the big-priced pair of Sir Busker and Pogo in a Quinella (horses to finish first or second in any order) alongside Palace Pier and Lope Y Fernandez.
Sir Busker loves Ascot as shown by his win in the Silver Royal Hunt Cup last year, while Pogo is one of a few who is guaranteed to be up with the pace from the outset.
He goes really well on fast ground and could easily get loose on the lead with so few expected to take him on.
POINTERS
Lope Y Fernandez e/w 2.30pm Ascot
Quinella: Palace Pier, Lope Y Fernandez, Sir Busker, Pogo