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The Timeform Expert's View: Royal Ascot Day Four
Posted in: Royal Ascot Tips
Matt Gardner provides his best bet, next best and best longshot for Day Four of Royal Ascot 2017.
Best Bet
This is traditionally a thoroughly competitive handicap, as is to be expected at the Royal meeting, and it once again looks a hot line up, with it being easy to make a case for recent handicap winners Top Tug, Appeared and Master Carpenter, as well as Sixties Groove who caught the eye in defeat over an inadequate trip at Epsom on reappearance. It’s a race that often goes the way of a Group horse masquerading as a handicapper however, and if there’s one in the field that holds such credentials then it is surely the unbeaten Wadigor. Seen only twice in 2016, in a Wolverhampton maiden and a Newmarket handicap, the 4-y-o made it 3-3 with a taking success on reappearance at Kempton, overcoming both residual inexperience and a steady pace to score with a good bit in hand. This presents a different challenge entirely, but he’s honed his craft at a lower level and now looks ready to break through on the big stage.
Next Best
If races were awarded on pedigree then the other 12 may as well not turn up, as Crystal Ocean would have this in the bag. By Sea The Stars, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained 3-y-o is a half-brother to the very smart pair Crystal Capella and Hillstar, the latter of whom won this very race for the same connections in 2013. Not only that however but he also boasts leading claims on form, looking a smart prospect when when winning a Nottingham maiden on reappearance before shaping well behind Permian and Benbatl in the Dante, leaving the impression that he would emerge as the best of that bunch. This step up to a mile and a half is sure to be in his favour, and Crytsal Ocean can uphold the family name by stamping his authority on this field.
Longshot
It’s a huge step from winning a York handicap off a BHA mark of 76 to landing a Group 2 at Royal Ascot, but Alqamar has more than enough about him to think that he’s overpriced at around 33/1. He’s already achieved a similar level of form as both stablemate Secret Advisor and Aidan O’Brien’s Wisconsin, both of whom are far shorter in the betting, and he’s open to just as much improvement having taken out that race on the Knavesmire in good style. He’s certain to be suited by this longer trip and, though he has to prove that he’s as effective on quicker ground, is well worth taking a punt on in what looks a fairly open renewal of the Queen’s Vase.
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