Tangerine Trees to be ripe for Royal Ascot appearance
Published:Tangerine Trees may have disappointed slightly in the Temple Stakes at Haydock, but there is every reason to believe that he will come on for the run when heading to Royal Ascot.
The ante-post betting has Tangerine Trees at 25/1 to win the King’s Stand Stakes and this could be a result of his performance at Haydock when a disappointing seventh behind Bated Breath.
However, this was the seasonal reappearance for Tangerine Trees and the Temple Stakes should have helped put him right for Royal Ascot, which would have been the leading goal at the start of the season given its Group One nature.
Tangerine Trees is now also a seven-year-old and trainer Brian Smart is convinced that the horse will be even more in need of the run than in days gone by.
Smart said: “We knew he’d need the run as he is such a lazy horse at home and that’s how it turned out. He’s come out of the race well. We had to start him off somewhere and Haydock was the obvious place to go.
“He has thickened out a bit this year so he probably needed the run even more than he has in the past, but it should put him right for the King’s Stand.”
Furthermore, Tangerine Trees had to carry a 4lb penalty at Haydock for his victory in a Group One at Longchamp at the end of the last season.
He will be back on a level playing field in the King’s Stand Stakes when re-opposing many of the horses to finish ahead of him in the Temple Stakes and this is expected to make a difference.
Never shy of early speed, the fact that Tangerine Trees has triumphed in five of his last eight races means he must have each-way chances at Royal Ascot.
