Queen Anne Stakes 2017: Jimmy looks a shoe in

The Queen Anne Stakes was awarded Group 1 status in 2003 and that promotion was fully deserved if recent evidence is anything to go by, with Canford Cliffs and Frankel among several top-class milers to feature on the roll of honour since the turn of the century.

That duo also won the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury en route to the Royal meeting, while Belardo came within a half-length of achieving the same feat when finding only the US raider Tepin too strong in this race last year. 

The Lockinge is, therefore, an obvious place to start when assessing the prospects of those likely to be involved here and Ribchester will be bidding to join those illustrious names if taking his chance, having been most impressive when recording a second Group 1 victory at Newbury last time. He proved better than ever when getting the better of old rivals Lightning Spear and Galileo Gold that day and there is no obvious reason why that pair should reverse the form here. Indeed, that effort identified him as the best miler in Europe and he certainly deserves his place at the head of the betting.

There are also several interesting fillies prominent in the betting for this valuable contest, but it is diffiuclt to be dogmatic about which races the likes of Minding, Qemah, Alice Springs and Usherette are likely to run in.

The most interesting of those potential runners is Aidan O’Brien’s Minding, who produced her best performance of the season when defeating Ribchester in the QEII Stakes at Ascot in October, and shaped as if retaining all of her ability when making a successful reappearance in the Mooresbridge Stakes at Naas.

However, arguably the most interesting contender at this stage is the Andre Fabre-trained Jimmy Two Times. He was only an also-ran in the French 2000 Guineas last year and made the frame in a couple of Group 1 events later in the season, but it is since he has been stepped back up to a mile this year that he has looked an improved performer.

The key piece of form is his reappearance win in a Group 3 at Saint-Cloud in April where he ran out an impressive winner, beating Dicton by three and a half lengths. Racing in mid-field, he showed a bright turn of foot to settle the race in strides, quickly coming clear in the final furlong.

Interestingly, he was purchased privately by Godolphin on the back of this and they were immediately rewarded on that investment when he won the Group 2 Prix de Muguet at the same track next time by half a length from Kourkan. Visually it wasn’t so striking as his reappearance, but he again got the job done without ever looking like getting beaten, and he looks well worth a try at the highest level now.

He has a bit of improvement to find, but there’s no doubt he’s going the right way now, whereas those that are shorter in the betting than him have probably shown all they will. He’s trained by one of the best in the business in Andre Fabre, who has made an excellent start to the season in his native country, and quotes from connections suggest he’s being aimed at the race – which is always half the battle ante-post.

It’s only the fact that he’s a relative unknown to a British audience that sees him trading as big as 14/1 currently, and it’s easy to see him going off at single figures on the day.

Recommended Bet

Jimmy Two Times to win the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday June 20th at 14/1

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