Ballydoyle fancy among 3 to follow for day one of Royal Ascot

Believe it or not (and you’d be forgiven for thinking the latter, under current circumstances) but there’s more than just the World Cup going on right now on planet sport, with Royal Ascot providing a touch of respite for those among you overcome by the sheer volume of football.

You might have missed the build up with all the noise from Brazil, but fear not as we’ve dug down into the bare form on offer and come up with three high-value each-way punts for day one of the
Flat season showpiece.

15.45 – Guerre @ 10/1

There’s a few animals coming into this race with some decent form, but none of them are going quite as well as Aidan O’Brien’s US-bred three-year-old.

Joint-favourite Hot Streak, for Kevin Ryan and Jamie Spencer, has to be respected at 4/1, having taken the Temple Stakes at Haydock over this 5f distance, but the claims of Ballydoyle colt Guerre – who’ll have Ryan Moore on board – are impossible to ignore at more than twice the price.

O’Brien’s challenger has won twice and finished runner-up on the other of his three starts, with a Naas victory over Maarek last time out franked by the form of Evanna McCutcheon’s charge in a Group 2 triumph at York since.

16.25 – Toormore @ 10/1

Some smart, Classic-winning horses have taken this race over the past decade, including the incomparable Frankel and formidable English and Irish 2,000 Guineas winners Henrythenavigator and Mastercraftsman for O’Brien.

However, the last two victors, Dawn Approach and Most Improved, both finished way down the field in their previous runs.

Toormore went into this year’s Newmarket showpiece with four wins out of four and only finished four lengths off second-placed Kingman in seventh, so stick with Richard Hannon and Moore to put things right in Berkshire.

17.35 – Midterm Break @ 12/1

Each of the past five winners of the Windsor Castle Stakes had previous victories under their belts, a stat the market seems to have covered with the 15 shortest-priced challengers in the expected 24-runner field having tasted success before.

However, four of the aforementioned victorious quintet went into this event after taking their previous race, with 2013 winner Extortionist the exception having finished out of the places in his prior engagement.

Hototo and Frederick Engels, who won in 2012 and 2011, went into Royal Ascot with 3,2,1 and 2,2,1 form respectively, so David Barron’s Midterm Break – who’s won his last two having finished runner-up on debut – is the pick at an each-way price.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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