Royal Ascot Lucky 15: Hannon to double up on Gold Cup day
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Thursday brings with it the Royal Meeting’s signature contest, the Ascot Gold Cup, but before the marathon Richard Hannon is expected to claim a tasty double.
Hannon Junior’s pair make up the first two legs of news.ladbrokes.com’s day three lucky 15.
Already commanding a lofty reputation among the Hannon yard’s juveniles, the son of Acclamation’s ability has been double underlined in red biro by Buratino’s impressive Coventry Stakes win over 1f further on Tuesday.
It was the second successive victory for Mark Johnston inmate since King Of Rooks thrashed him by 5l in a Newbury contest over the minimum trip the latter faces again here.
Another Hannon horse and another whose early season form is a blazing beacon for punters, thanks to his 1.5l second to Derby winner Golden Horn over 1m1f at Newmarket in April.
Receiving 4lbs from a brace of opponents over 1f further here, he has also had the reposing Disegno, Mustadeem and Nafaqa in arrears across his last two starts.
Irish Guineas queen Pleascach is a worthy favourite here, looking a fair deal ahead of her competitors, but she is still engaged in the Irish Derby in ten days and if one is to improve close enough to challenge her then it could be this twice-raced filly.
A close third to subsequent French Oaks winner Star Of Seville on just her second run marked the daughter of Galileo out as a potential-laden sort and the decision to swerve her Epsom entry for the Royal Meeting could prove shrewd.
Forgotten Rules is regarded as a future Yeats-like grand mufti of the division, yet the good-to-firm ground which we have always been told is his bête noire makes backing him a slightly queasy proposition.
Siding with 2013 second Simenon, who ran pleasingly close behind Vent De Force on his seasonal reappearance and remains the only horse in the field to have previously scored over the Gold Cup’s extreme 2m4f trip, instead looks the ploy.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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