ROYAL ASCOT – DAY 1 (TUESDAY)

16:20 Royal Ascot

The St James’s Palace Stakes is a Group 1 race for three-year-old colts, over a race distance of a mile, and is usually contested by runners that have already raced in the 2000 Guineas, Irish 2000 Guineas or the Poule d’Essai des Poulains .

The Irish 2000 Guineas winner Romanised won on debut but had threatened to become a shade disappointing before the step up to a mile saw a commanding victory at The Curragh. His trainer has only had 4 winners from over 100 runners in the last twelve months but based on the Guineas performance you would have to think that if he turns up in similar mood then he would be in with a decent chance of following up here.

Aidan O’Brien saddles three runners, all of whom finished behind Romanised in the Irish 2000 Guineas, finishing second, third and fourth respectively. All three have won over shorter trips but are yet to taste victory over a mile, yet all three again have the potential to get involved, especially considering the stable dominance of this race. Of the three, US Navy Flag is the preference of Ryan Moore but it is Gustav Klimt who would be my preference of the trio as I think he is the most capable of further improvement.

Tip Two Win was a solid second behind Saxon Warrior in the 2000 Guineas and could improve for that run (his first in eight months) although his trainer is yet to saddle a winner at Ascot so he would have to break a thirty-six race losing streak to emerge victorious here.

Wootton was unbeaten in his first three starts before a flat performance when fourth on good ground at Longchamp when last seen and given that the front three have all disappointed since he arrives here with a bit of a point to prove.

With question marks over all of the above, we turn to our selection Without Parole. He was a little workmanlike when winning the Heron Stakes at Sandown in May but got the job done in the end and the good-to-soft ground was definitely against him that day. His first run on turf, on good-to-firm ground, produced a six-length victory in commanding fashion and with similar conditions forecast today I think there is more to come from the unbeaten John Gosden three-year-old. 

Without Parole (WIN) – NAP

14:30 – Century Dream (E/W)

15:10 – Sergei Prokofiev (WIN)

15:40 – Lady Aurelia (WIN)

17:00 – Dubawi Fifty (E/W)

17:35 – Laraaib (WIN)

written by Dean Kilbryde