Mabait and Fair Trade must be happy with Royal Ascot draws
Published:The luck of the draw can have a major influence on many horse races, but particularly big-field handicaps, and each-way punters look set to be rewarded at Royal Ascot this year in the Royal Hunt Cup.
Seven of the last nine winners of the 1m contest at Ascot have been drawn in stall 20 or higher, while numerous others from a high stall have filled the other places in the first three.
Edinburgh Knight is one of three co-favourites at present at 10/1 and the only one to have a decent starting spot in stall 20.
Trainer James Fanshawe has seen all of his six runners in the last ten years finish in the first three, but his Dimension has the odds against him from stall seven, while the other favourite Captain Bertie will begin from stall 17.
Based on the results of the last four years at Royal Ascot, the field can be cut further, as no horse from lower than stall 24 has occupied a finishing spot in the first three.
Interestingly, the horse to be drawn 30 has a particularly strong record, placing in the first three in all of the last four years.
Mabait is the lucky runner this year and may be worth an each-way punt at 25/1 simply because of his stall position.
The David Simcock-trained horse was a talented three-year-old formerly, but has struggled to repeat these glories in recent years.
However, he did show a glimpse of improvement at Chester last time and a repeat of this performance would not put him without a chance.
What is also worth noting is that the first three in each of the last two years have been identical in terms of the stalls they started from, with stall 24 winning, stall 30 taking second and stall 25 completing the first three.
Fair Trade has claimed stall 24 this year and is an especially interesting runner.
He has only run once since 2010, when probably needing the run at Kempton and should improve stepping back to 1m.
If settling early, he looks a massive price at 33/1 as he could be well handicapped.
Stall 25 belongs to another Simcock-trained runner in Trade Storm, who is also 33/1 and caught the eye on his first start of the season at York.
