Royal Ascot Betting Tips: Day three

Nap: King of Rooks - 14:30 Ascot

Two of the 12 declared runners in the Norfolk Stakes have a Timeform Rating higher than the five-year average (a little below 109) while the rest have to improve by a stone or more. To add some extra spice, the leading two are in the same yard: that of Richard Hannon.

Log Out Island could be very good- so says the clock and the visuals from his debut over this C&D at the end of April. But there’s another dimension to King of Rooks. He has more experience for a start, and the form all along leaps off the page. Behind Steady Pace and Beaverbrook here on debut, he won by six lengths over six furlongs next time then returned to five in the National Stakes at Sandown. In that race he pummelled Tuesday’s Coventry winner Buratino and Windsor Castle third Steady Pace by five and six lengths respectively. If it seems a little too good to be true, that’s because the black-and-white of it probably is, though making good horses look ordinary is almost always a tremendously good sign.

Next best: Time Test – 15:05 Ascot

If you want clues to next year’s big middle-distance contests, look not to the Derby or the Guineas but to some of the lesser Group races at Royal Ascot. The Tercentenary, along with the Edward VII and even the King George V handicap often produce the middle-distance stars of their four-year-old season. Think Papal Bull, Nathaniel, Brown Panther and, hopefully, Time Test.

The London Gold Cup is closely linked with the Tercentenary: twice in the last decade has a horse won both races, including Cannock Chase last year. It’s also a race that has produced Al Kazeem and Green Moon (2012 Melbourne Cup winner) in that time, so to win it the way Time Test did probably takes some doing. The race is already starting to work out favourably, so Time Test, who retains a ‘large p’ on the basis of his victory, is in our eyes a potential Group 1 horse over 10 and 12 furlongs down the line, with the Tercentenary a natural stepping stone along the way.

Each-way: Taper Tantrum – 17:35 Ascot

We’ve already discussed the King George V’s power to launch top-level careers. Its record is probably bettered by the 10-furlong handicap for three-year-olds at Epsom on Derby day, won by Conduit in the past and projected King Edward VII favourite Stravagante this year. Taper Tantrum also ran in the race this year, and though we couldn’t make a case for him beating Stravagante however things played out, we could nominate him as next-best. Shuffled back three furlongs out, he was forced to switch and duly started his move from too far back. That he could finish third in such a good handicap despite it all is a great advert for his potential.

Potential is very much the word with Taper Tantrum. Still only four starts into his career, he must be well regarded to have been pitched into such a historically strong race on his reappearance as a three-year-old. Still on a BHA mark of just 85, if he’s as good as he’s looked so far he surely has it in him to go close, even in this company.