In this week's edition of Sunday View, Andrew Asquith looks ahead to Royal Ascot and has four selections throughout the week.
Sunday View: Sunday June 14
1pt e.w. Rumstar in the King Charles III Stakes at 18/1 (Ladbrokes, 16/1 General 1/5 1,2,3,4)
1pt e.w. La Botte in the Royal Hunt Cup at 16/1 (General 1/4 1,2,3,4)
1pt win Organise in the Britannia Stakes at 8/1 (William Hill, Unibet, 888sport, Ladbrokes, Coral)
1pt e.w. Charles Darwin in the Commonwealth Cup at 16/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3)
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Like many horse racing enthusiasts, Royal Ascot is one of my favourite weeks of the year and, luckily, once more the weather is forecast to play ball. At the time of writing, next week looks dry, which should ensure we get safe, fast ground which will provide a level playing field for the majority of runners.
The King Charles III Stakes looks an interesting renewal with Australian raider Overpass installed as a relatively short-priced favourite. He tops Timeform ratings and we’ve seen time and time again how Australian sprinters have too much for the British and Irish contingent at Royal Ascot.
He looks a fast horse, who likes to make the running or at least race prominently, and he stays seven furlongs, so the stiff finish at Ascot shouldn’t pose a problem. However, such tactics can be hard to pull off on Ascot’s straight course, and the majority of his wins have come over six furlongs. Add into the mix the likes of Night Raider and Jakajaro among others, it will potentially be run at a blistering pace.
That will suit French filly Rayevka, who was well suited by a well-run race dropped to five furlongs in a Group 3 at Longchamp last month, but at a much bigger price, I can see RUMSTAR having the race set up perfectly for him.
He made a winning reappearance in the Palace House at Newmarket last season, but wasn’t in the same form in the Temple Stakes next time, and raced on the wrong part of the track when better than the bare result in this race after.
Rumstar could only finish second to Night Raider on his return this year in the Palace House having been well supported with his yard in top form, but the superior speed of the winner on fast ground enabled him to steal a march and he was unable to reel him in.
He did pull clear of the remainder, though, and Night Raider has since franked the form by following up in the Temple Stakes under a more patient ride. That rival has clearly improved for a gelding operation this season, but I’d still be on the side of Rumstar in a rematch at a track like Ascot and I think it was a good move from Jonathan Portman to miss the Temple.
I think the extra time in preparation for this will work better this time around and his run style should be well suited by Ascot and, while I’d have preferred him to be drawn higher given there appears to be more pace there, I’m hopeful he’ll get a good enough tow into the race. The pick of his form isn’t far away from the principals and he shouldn’t be as big as 25/1 for this.
The Royal Hunt Cup is one of the most competitive handicaps of the year and this year’s renewal is sure to be well represented again. One horse who has failed to fire so far this season, but I’m sure will show his true colours returned to a big-field scenario, is the Harry Eustace-trained LA BOTTE.
He was arguably unlucky not to win the Britannia over the same course and distance at this meeting last year, meeting trouble in-running on more than one occasion under a typical Jamie Spencer ride and still only beaten a neck.
La Botte easily looked the best handicapped horse in the race that day and made a most eye-catching reappearance run at Wolverhampton in March from an official mark of 104. He wasn’t at all knocked about at a track which probably wasn’t ideal for his run style and as a result started one of the shortest priced favourites for the Lincoln at Doncaster next time.
Indeed, he failed to meet market expectations in no uncertain terms, but it is possible that his first run on ground with soft in the description didn’t suit, and he hasn’t been seen to best effect in a couple of smaller field, steadily-run Listed events the last twice.
His handicap mark has fallen to 102 as a result, just 3lb higher than when going extremely close this time last year, and he’s a horse who is surely going to be liberated by the return to a strongly-run, big-field handicap.
Jamie Spencer, his usual rider, is notoriously good on the straight course at Ascot and, with likely fast ground sure to be in his favour, I’m sure he’ll be seen in a different light. At 16/1 he looks fairly priced given he started 7/1 for the Britannia 12 months ago.
The Britannia Stakes itself is one of my favourite handicaps of the year, chock-full of unexposed three-year-olds who have the potential to develop into pattern performers later in their career.
An official mark in the mid to low 90s has won each renewal since 2015 when War Envoy won off 104 for Aidan O’Brien and I’ve a feeling that this year’s renewal will be won by one rated north of 100, too.
The horse in question is the John & Thady Gosden-trained ORGANISE, who vey much still looks like a work in progress. He looked inexperienced but highlighted how much natural ability he has when winning by seven lengths on his debut at Southwell in November and had no problem defying a penalty at Yarmouth returning from five months off in April.
Even then he still looked rough around the edges, leaving the impression we were still scratching the surface of the potential he has, but still beating a promising newcomer and one who had shown ability and Outback Heat in third who has since won in good style on handicap debut and also has an entry in the Britannia.
Organise started favourite for his handicap debut in the Esher Cup at Sandown last time and, though he lost his unbeaten record, he lost little in defeat, very much still learning on the job, taking up the lead but running around once hitting the front and caught by the much improved Laureate Crown close home.
Interestingly, connections have made the decision to have him gelded since, which should speed up the growing up process, and to me he’s all over a horse who will thrive on the demands of a Britannia.
He’s a horse who has the ability to travel off the pace and I’d imagine his challenge will be delayed a little more this time round given he didn’t do anything once hitting the lead at Sandown. Organise may not be entirely straightforward, but there’s no doubting he’s an abundance of ability, and hopefully a gelding operation will allow him to reach his full potential – he still looks well handicapped to me following a 4lb rise.
Venetian Sun is taking a big chunk out of the Commonwealth Cup market and, while she deserves to be favourite, I’m still inclined to take her on at the prices, and the one who looks overpriced to me is CHARLES DARWIN.
He was always well regarded as a two-year-old and backed up all the hype by winning three of his four starts, notably the Norfolk Stakes at this meeting where he beat subsequent Middle Park winner Wise Approach handsomely.
A setback afterwards meant we didn’t see him again last season, but he proved he’s trained on when landing the odds in a Listed event at Navan on his return from 10 months off in April where he wasn’t fully extended to dispatch of some lesser rivals.
That was an encouraging return to action and he was again a short-priced favourite for the Lackan Stakes at Naas last time. Indeed, he trailed in last on that occasion, but that clearly wasn’t his running, and Aidan O’Brien reported in a recent stable tour that he hit a ridge during the race and Ryan Moore looked after him following that.
It’s therefore sensible to put a line through that effort and he has some of the best form on offer behind Venetian Sun in this field. It was also reported that he’ll likely wear first-time blinkers on Friday to help sharpen him up as he was described as ‘lazy’ by O’Brien.
I must admit he doesn’t look lazy in his races to me, but who are we to question the master of Ballydoyle and you can only think it will help him take his form to new levels. I was surprised to see him as big as 16/1 as, if you ignore his last run, he comes into the Commonwealth Cup with an excellent profile, and is a nice type physically, one who should continue to progress with age and experience.
Preview posted at 15:44 BST on 14/06/26
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