Our form expert has five selections for day two of Royal Ascot 2026 on Wednesday including two against the field in the Royal Hunt Cup.
The Verdict: Wednesday June 17
1pt e.w. Mr Colonel in the 15:05 Royal Ascot at 18/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3)
1pt win Fifth Column in the 17:00 Royal Ascot at 12/1 (General)
0.5pts e.w. Blue RC in the 17:00 Royal Ascot at 50/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)
1pt win Zgharta in the 17:35 Royal Ascot at 11/1 (General)
1pt win Sale Shark in the 18:10 Royal Ascot at 12/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power)
Taking the Fifth in the Hunt Cup
It's a big day for John & Thady Gosden on day two of Royal Ascot on Wednesday and the Group 1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes could be one of the highlights of the week as their Ombudsman takes on Daryz, Minnie Hauk and Almaqam.
With Mississippi River in there to set the pace for Minnie Hauk things could pan out nicely for Ombudsman again on his preferred conditions, his runaway win in this contest last year, despite finding trouble in the run, a coming-of-age performance.
His subsequent Juddmonte International victory and two from two record this year mark him out as the one to beat, as he looks a natural 10-furlong horse compared to the likes of Daryz and Minnie Hauk, while there was plenty to like about his Sandown run last time.
He has never really impressed at the Esher track, but he knuckled down well to see off a good horse in Gethin and the expectation is he’ll improve significantly for that just like he did from Sandown to Ascot 12 months ago.
Backed into 11/8 favourite in recent days, he’s the one to beat and so is stablemate Friendly Soul in the Group 2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes over a mile on the round course where she has cruised to victory before.
As long as she is none-the-worse for taking a false step in the Haydock hole last month she could outclass her rivals here and it’s no surprise to see her trading as a very solid 4/1 shot.
The Gosdens could therefore be on a roll going into the day’s feature handicap, the Royal Hunt Cup, and their Godolphin-owned FIFTH COLUMN looks on the cusp of producing a career-best effort under William Buick.
He's your typical four-year-old aimed at this race, a steady improver with Royal Ascot form in the bank after being first home in his group when seventh overall in last year's Britannia Stakes.
After that he did well to win the big three-year-old mile handicap at York's Ebor Festival, finishing well off a modest pace to get the job done in a tight finish, and then he struggled a little off his new handicap mark after that.
However, he looks to have benefitted for having the winter off and he came on significantly from his Sandown reappearance at Newmarket last time, enjoying the strong gallop and leading a furlong out over 1m1f before being mugged by Erzindjan late on.
That suggests to me he’s in a good place to put forward a big effort back at a mile off a strong gallop at Ascot and Buick has options from his central draw.
I’m also backing James Tate’s BLUE RC each-way at 50/1.
He’s drawn higher in 23 but the stands’ side is often the place to be on the straight track here and this son of Blue Point has looked a likely type for this sort of race for a while now.
The reason he is 50/1 is because he was beaten six lengths at Newbury last time, but things didn’t pan out nicely for him from his draw in stall two and he was hampered when trying to get into contention.
He's worth a pass on that, especially as he was previously so consistent, not finishing out of the first two in his eight runs before Newbury, and as he progressed he continually hinted that an end-to-end gallop over a mile would suit him really well.
That was particularly the case at Thirsk two starts ago, where he again travelled strongly before finishing second, and Hector Crouch can ensure he gets plenty of cover here before unleashing his challenge late on.
The Verdict: Back FIFTH COLUMN and BLUE RC in the 17:00 Royal Ascot
Side with the Colonel in Queen’s Vase
Earlier on Richard & Peter Fahey’s MR COLONEL looks overpriced in the Group 2 Queen’s Vase over 1m6f under Colin Keane.
The son of Frankel is a full-brother to bumper winner Cedar Creek and stamina could be this horse’s strong suit as well considering how much he improved for moving up to 1m4f in the Chester Vase.
He ran a cracker in third there at a big price, marking himself out as a contender for a race like this, and we didn’t really get to see how good that form might be in the Betfred Derby after Benvenuto Cellini’s troubles in the stalls and on the softer ground.
I think it was a good effort for this horse to finish third at Chester, certainly in the context of this race with the fourth home and reopposing Del Maro running well at Goodwood subsequently.
He handled himself well at Chester and I liked that he didn’t pull too hard when Proposition went clear, giving every indication he’ll settle nicely going up in trip another quarter mile.
Keane is three from five for Fahey and he’s an interesting jockey booking in a race that looks more open than the Galiyan and Limestone-dominated market suggests.
The Verdict: Back MR COLONEL in the 15:05 Royal Ascot
Murphy to finish with a flourish
Finally, Oisin Murphy is always a good man to have on your side and he has a couple of interesting rides on the straight course to finish the card.
Andrew Balding’s ZGHARTA appeals in the Kensington Palace Stakes, the daughter of Ghaiyyath likely to improve a bundle for her reappearance run at this track last time.
That’s a key piece of form with Radiant Beauty, Song N Dance and Alobayyah all reopposing, but Zgharta was sent off the 100/30 favourite in that race and had no chance from the rear as the prominent horses dominated off a slow pace.
Balding said he thought she was potentially a pattern-class filly last season and she ran well in the Sandringham after being slowly away, while she got no run at Goodwood and the 10-furlong trip didn’t seem to suit at York.
She wants a strongly-run mile and Balding has whipped the hood off her here, a move which suggests the education is over, so now we might see what she is made of.
Murphy then rides SALE SHARK in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes, now over six furlongs, and his natural pace looks a weapon in against plenty of horses that will improve over further given the new sire restrictions (for 2yo whose sire won a race in excess of 6f 110yds (in excess of 1308 metres) as a two-year-old, or a race in excess of 7f 110yds (in excess of 1509m) as a three-year-old or older).
Hugo Palmer’s horse is by Bayside Boy, a first-season sire who has started well with his two-year-olds over five and six furlongs, and Sale Shark made a highly-promising debut when landing the money at Hamilton.
Sent off the 13/8 favourite against a quartet of horses who had already had a run, the result was never in doubt as he tanked through the race under Jason Hart over five furlongs.
The jockey said he’d be confident Sale Shark would get six furlongs and he mentioned this race in his post-race interview like it was always the plan, so he looks a likely type here with Murphy now taking over in the saddle (61 from 230 at 27% for Palmer).
The Verdict: Back ZGHARTA (17:35) and SALE SHARK (18:10)
Preview posted at 16:00 BST on 16/06/26
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