Our form expert has four selections for day four of Royal Ascot on Friday including in the Commonwealth Cup.
The Verdict: Friday June 19
1pt e.w. Midnight Tango in the 15:05 Royal Ascot at 33/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4)
0.5pts e.w. Insanity in the 15:40 Royal Ascot at 33/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)
1pt e.w. Quiet Mutiny in the 17:00 Royal Ascot at 14/1 (bet365, William Hill 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
1pt e.w. Moojeed in the 18:10 Royal Ascot at 16/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)
Gimme gimme gimme a plan after Midnight
The fillies take centre stage at Royal Ascot on Friday with the Group 1 Coronation Stakes headlining the action and Aidan O’Brien has the strongest of hands thanks to his Guineas winners Precise and True Love.
It’s a very short price one of them wins and I’m not in a rush to take the duo on, but it’s a different story with another filly Venetian Sun in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at 15:05.
Karl Burke’s horse was brilliant in the Sandy Lane and you can see why she’s 6/4 favourite on the back of that, but there was cut in the ground at Haydock that day and that might have been a significant factor in her huge improvement.
With that in mind I want to take her on with something each-way and with the colts not setting this division alight I’m sticking with the fillies and Ed Walker’s MIDNIGHT TANGO who looks overpriced at 33/1.
The daughter of Night Of Thunder isn’t really bred to be a sprinter but she is related to the same owners' Prix de l’Abbaye winner Makarova and she looks to have inherited plenty of gears from that part of the family.
It took a while for Walker to figure it out as she was running over seven furlongs and a mile at the backend of her two-year-old career, but those distances didn’t suit as she raced too inefficiently to do herself justice.
All her best runs at two came over six furlongs and she returned over that distance a much-improved filly in the Commonwealth Cup Trial at Ascot on May 1.
Sent off 66/1 that day, she belied those odds with a huge run beaten just a neck by Coppull into second and she would’ve preferred a faster pace than one that resulted in a finishing speed percentage of 107%.
Considering her pedigree and running style, she could do with them going a lot faster than that and she should get the perfect tee-up on Friday with Timeform predicting an ‘extreme’ gallop in this 22-runner field with significant pace drawn around her on the stands’ side.
Fitzella, Brussels, Charles Darwin and Outfielder should ensure a lightning gallop and that will suit Kieran Shoemark perfectly as he can take his time getting cover before utilising Midnight Tango’s finishing kick.
Ascot looks to suit her as she has run well here twice and she goes well on fast ground, too, so 33/1 looks to underestimate her chance in what looks a wide-open renewal if Venetian Sun proves vulnerable on the conditions.
The Verdict: Back MIDNIGHT TANGO in the 15:05 Royal Ascot
Graffard to storm the Palace
Sticking with the speedsters Francis-Henri Graffard runs a Group-class sprinter in the closing Palace Of Holyroodhouse Handicap over five furlongs in the shape of grey Dark Angel colt MOOJEED.
A mark of 102 looks punchy in a race of this nature but there’s no getting away from the fact he could be well treated off that rating following a really encouraging second run back in the Group 3 Prix Du Gros-Chene at Chantilly behind Sajir.
That was his first go at the bare five furlongs since his debut and he enjoyed it, only going down to a Group 1-winner late on after showing plenty of speed and it looks significant his trainer has identified this opportunity for him.
Given he has won a Group 3 over six furlongs, a test at this trip will likely suit him down to the ground and fast conditions could be right up his alley as well.
He is unproven on that score, but Dark Angel progeny generally thrive on faster conditions and he also looks drawn well from stall 24 on the stands’ side with pace around him, thanks to the likes of Baker Blue, Miss Yechance, Ipanema Queen and Sovereign Spell.
The Verdict: Back MOOJEED in the 18:10 Royal Ascot
Futures made of virtual Insanity
There are three really good handicaps to get stuck into on Friday and the first one is the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes over 1m4f at 15:40 where The King and Queen could be celebrating with Warrant Holder.
The son of Frankel has an obvious chance as does William Haggas’ Opportunity, but stall one increases the chances of the latter getting trapped on the inside and I want more bang for my buck with the pair disputing favouritism.
Alan King’s INSANITY has an inside draw in stall three, as well, but Rossa Ryan will be alive to the potential pitfalls of that berth and at 33/1 I thought he was worth chancing to small stakes each-way.
King has his team in good form after winning the Copper Horse Stakes earlier in the week with Daiquiri Bay and Insanity loves Ascot as well as a mile and a half on fast ground.
The six-year-old is relatively lightly-raced for his age and he’s normally at his best with a run under his belt, his win at Ayr this time last year coming on his second start of the campaign.
He shaped really nicely at Pontefract on his reappearance, running a super race first time up in second behind Have Secret over an inadequate 10 furlongs and he should come on for that now back at 1m4f.
He’s in against more unexposed horses in this hence his price, but this looks the perfect race for him and he’s well capable off a mark of 99, so 33s looks worth taking with fingers firmly crossed he gets a smooth passage through from the inside gate.
The Verdict: Back INSANITY in the 15:40 Royal Ascot
Keep it Quiet in the Sandringham
Finally, Gavin Cromwell’s QUIET MUTINY looks the bet in the Sandringham Handicap.
The Starman filly beat Precise on debut when winning at Fairyhouse as a two-year-old and she’s been seen just twice since, running second in a Listed race at Cork on May 3 before catching the eye on handicap debut at the Curragh last time.
In a race that is often a springboard to Royal Ascot she made good headway in the final two furlongs to finish a never-nearer fourth, beaten just three-quarters-of-a-length, and she races off just a 1lb higher mark here.
The Curragh race was over seven furlongs but the way she finished there suggests there could be more to come over a mile and again she looks in the right place drawn around the stands’ side pace.
Cromwell is two from eight with his Royal Ascot runners having won the Queen Mary with Quick Suzy and the Chesham with Snellen, while he’s had 25/1 and 50/1 seconds among those select contenders as well.
Quiet Mutiny looks to have been campaigned for this race from a long way out and everything looks to have come together for her shrewd yard here.
The Verdict: Back QUIET MUTINY in the 17:00 Royal Ascot
Preview posted at 16:00 BST on 18/06/26
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