Three horses worth forgiving at Royal meeting including 50/1 sprinter

Charles Darwin (Commonwealth Cup)

Charles Darwin hardly needs much by way of introduction, being last year’s superb Norfolk Stakes winner. He also made a successful start to the current campaign with a decent performance over six furlongs at Navan in April but following a subsequent no-show – coupled with the easy win for Venetian Sun at Haydock – all of a sudden everyone has gone decidedly cold on poor Charles Darwin.

However, it might just pay to keep the faith with the son of No Nay Never, who palpably wasn’t anywhere near his best last time as Ryan Moore effectively eased off a long way from the finish and brought the colt home in his own time.

Aidan O’Brien’s horses can be at their most dangerous following a surprise defeat (the trainer tends to blame himself in such instances) and a bounce-back effort in the Commonwealth Cup looks quite likely given the sun is set to shine next week.

So Regal (Jersey Stakes/Coronation Stakes)

John & Thady Gosden’s So Regal suffered her first defeat of the season in York’s Michael Seely but I thought there were plenty of positives to take from the race, not least that she appeared to bump into a very smart winner – and stronger stayer – in the William Haggas-trained Lilt.

Lilt looks bound for the big-time and a step up to 10 furlongs in all likelihood but I wonder if So Regal will be best served by a drop back to seven furlongs based on how the York race played out. She travelled really well and seemed to show a lot of natural pace on the front end, only being worn down by the winner in the last furlong.

Taking on Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Precise in the Coronation Stakes could be tempting but looks a bit fraught with danger to my eye and the Jersey Stakes – a race in which the Gosdens have saddled the runner-up twice in the past four years – might be more sensible and suitable for the filly in question.

Sayidah Dariyan (Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes)

Sayidah Dariyan’s three-year-old form reads very well and although without success since winning a Group 3 at York last July, she shaped with a degree of promise on her seasonal debut behind Flora Of Bermuda in a Listed event at Newmarket last month.

The horses who dominated early ended up fighting the finish at HQ whereas Richard Hughes’s filly had to come from a little further back and the effort can be marked up a touch, especially as it was her first outing for 238 days.

The daughter of Dariyan was a running-on fourth (finished third in her group) in last year’s Commonwealth Cup and clearly appreciated proper summer ground. Whether she’ll be up to mixing with the best that Australia has to offer in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes next week is another matter but she’s likely to be ridden to pick up some of the pieces and is on offer at 50/1 at the time of writing so could represent a spot of each-way value seeing as her trainer still seems to hold her in the highest regard.

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