13:15 Royal Ascot

Tuesday 16 June 2020

All13:1513:5014:2515:0015:3516:1016:40

Buckingham Palace Handicap

Off time: 13:16 | Winning time: 1m 26.19s

(20)

First Contact²⁵⁵

Age: 5| Weight: 9-10| J: W Buick| T: C Appleby| OR: 105| D

11/1

French Listed winner in 2018; beaten just 4L in a Meydan Group 1 in March; unsuited by heavy ground when runner-up in a Listed race at Redcar latest; others look better treated from a handicapping perspective.

Form: 733662-

(9)

Habub^b1¹⁰¹

Age: 5| Weight: 9-10| J: Cieren Fallon⁽³⁾| T: Owen Burrows| OR: 105| D

66/1

Three-time winner on AW; out of form at the start of this year on AW; lightly raced on turf but likely he would want quicker ground than what's likely here; wears first-time blinkers.

Form: 721-555

(1)

Blown By Wind¹⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 9-9| J: J Fanning| T: C & M Johnston| OR: 104| C| D

25/1

Course winner; impressive when winning on soft ground at Musselburgh in October; disappointed at Wolverhampton in March but won on return at Newmarket 10 days ago; helped by a pace bias that day and will need more from his revised mark here.

Form: 0751-81

(5)

Gifted Master^p²¹³

Age: 7| Weight: 9-9| J: Gabriele Malune⁽³⁾| T: H Palmer| OR: 104| C| D

80/1

Course winner (6f) who hasn't won since his Stewards' Cup success from a 5lb higher mark in 2018; has won over this far but probably more effective at 6f and others preferred.

Form: 668028-

(21)

Daarik¹⁰

Age: 4| Weight: 9-9| J: L Dettori| T: J & T Gosden| OR: 104| D

7/2

Has three wins from his five career starts and returned with an AW success at Newcastle 10 days ago; more needed from 7lb higher but he's in good hands and is open to further progress; interesting if he handles return to turf.

Form: 01/12-1

(17)

Silent Attack¹²⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 9-7| J: Tom Marquand| T: A W Carroll| OR: 102| BF| D

100/1

Career best efforts have come on AW and got his head back in front at Lingfield in January; yet to win from a mark this high though and further progress on turf looks unlikely at the age of seven.

Form: 6023-12

(25)

Flaming Spear²⁰⁹

Age: 8| Weight: 9-5| J: Joey Haynes| T: D K Ivory| OR: 100| D

25/1

Has won some valuable handicaps down the years and he's well treated on his best efforts; stiff 7f is probably ideal but he needs to bounce back from four disappointing efforts last year and yet to hit the frame in seven attempts at this venue.

Form: 01/5700-

(16)

Mutamaasik²⁷⁸

Age: 4| Weight: 9-5| J: Dane O'Neill| T: R Varian| OR: 100| D

7/1

Only found one too good on debut and he's progressed nicely since, winning each of his four subsequent starts; only up 3lb for his latest success and less exposed than most in here.

Form: 21111-

(10)

Glen Shiel¹⁴

Age: 6| Weight: 9-5| J: Hollie Doyle| T: A Watson| OR: 100| D

10/1

Listed winner at Chantilly for Andre Fabre; ended losing run when gaining first win for this yard at Newcastle and returned with a good second there 10 days ago; return to 7f will suit and ran well in the Balmoral here off this mark; yard in form.

Form: 98-1372

(18)

Hey Jonesy²⁴⁸

Age: 5| Weight: 9-4| J: T Eaves| T: K A Ryan| OR: 99

33/1

Hasn't won since a novice success at York back in 2017; on a nice mark but his best form has come at 6f and he was struggling from this sort of mark towards the end of last year.

Form: 592000-

(23)

Greenside²⁵⁵

Age: 9| Weight: 9-4| J: Marco Ghiani⁽⁵⁾| T: H Candy| OR: 99

14/1

Excellent second over C&D when last seen in a valuable handicap; 5lb rise is fair for that effort but he will need to improve if he's to take this; acts on a range of ground.

Form: 413452-

(13)

Kaeso¹⁰

Age: 6| Weight: 9-4| J: Oisin Murphy| T: N Tinkler| OR: 99| D

7/1

Beaten just a head in the C&D International here in July when bidding to follow up a Doncaster success; well behind Daarik on return at Newcastle 10 days ago but he may have needed that run and he's run well in four starts at this venue.

Form: 19012-7

(4)

Alexander James^t1²²³

Age: 4| Weight: 9-3| J: L Morris| T: Miss Gay Kelleway| OR: 98

100/1

Bolted up on Southwell debut; won twice in France for previous yard including a Listed race at Chantilly (1m1f) in October; disappointed (11/10 fav) on heavy last time but fair mark for return to UK on yard debut; drop to 7f perhaps not ideal.

Form: 330115-

(14)

Straight Right^h¹⁰¹

Age: 6| Weight: 9-3| J: S De Sousa| T: A M Balding| OR: 98| D

50/1

All six wins have come on AW and he's failed to hit the frame on four previous course starts; probably doesn't have much in hand from this mark now back on turf.

Form: 005-179

(26)

Motakhayyel³²⁵

Age: 4| Weight: 9-3| J: Jim Crowley| T: R Hannon| OR: 98| D

14/1

Won three of his first four stars but too keen when well beaten here in July; needs to prove he can be as effective on slower ground on return here but Crowley seemingly prefers his chance to Mutamaasik and Daarik; unexposed.

Form: 1/1216-

(19)

Documenting¹⁰¹

Age: 7| Weight: 9-2| J: Rossa Ryan| T: K Frost| OR: 97| D

33/1

Has won four races over this trip on AW but 0-6 on turf and well beaten on only previous course start. Listed second on latest start was a smart effort but handicap mark looks stiff, despite being able to race from his reduced turf mark.

Form: 22412-2

(6)

Shelir⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-2| J: D Tudhope| T: D O'Meara| OR: 97| D

22/1

Won his first two career starts last year including a 7f Listed race at the Curragh; has gone the wrong way since though and showed little on debut for this yard at Newmarket nine days ago. Looks up against it here.

Form: 10697-8

(22)

Jack's Point¹²

Age: 4| Weight: 9-1| J: M Dwyer| T: W R Muir| OR: 96| D

66/1

Got his head back in front for the first time since his two-year-old days when winning by 1L at Newmarket 12 days ago. Has a tough task here from a 5lb higher mark and seemingly needs fast ground to be at his best.

Form: 55308-1

(12)

Keyser Soze⁹⁷

Age: 6| Weight: 9-1| J: R L Moore| T: R Spencer| OR: 96| D

14/1

More effective on AW than turf and beaten a long way in four previous course attempts; in good form when last seen in March and the booking of Moore is a plus but others appeal more.

Form: 0004-52

(24)

War Glory²⁰⁹

Age: 7| Weight: 9-1| J: S M Levey| T: R Hannon| OR: 96| D

33/1

Kept busy last year, winning five times but does most of his winning on AW. Reduced turf mark helps here though and not disgraced in two previous course starts over 1m; better at this trip and not one to put a line through.

Form: 513110-

(27)

Cliffs Of Capri^b¹²

Age: 6| Weight: 9-1| J: D C Costello| T: J A Osborne| OR: 96| CD

20/1

40/1 winner at handicap in February and has some good form here with two C&D wins and two more smart efforts in defeat; gets a useful swing in the weights with Jack's Point for last week's second and may strip fitter for that run; up 2lb.

Form: 37-7912

(8)

Firmament^p¹⁴

Age: 8| Weight: 9-1| J: James Doyle| T: D O'Meara| OR: 96| D

18/1

Can be frustrating to follow and has just one win since 2016, a York handicap in June last year; plenty of placed form in big handicaps and he's run some big races here, despite a course record of 0-14; place claims.

Form: 25-2694

(3)

Ebury⁹

Age: 4| Weight: 9-1| J: Andrea Atzeni| T: M Meade| OR: 96| BF| C

18/1

Course winner here in September on his fourth start and only narrowly denied on handicap debut at Newmarket; shaped like he needed the run back at that venue on return and he retains plenty of potential.

Form: 12012-6

Non-Runners

(2)

Lethal Lunch¹⁹⁵

Weight: 9-3| Age: 5

T: C G Cox J: A Kirby

Forecasts

Daarik (7/2), Mutamaasik (7/1), Kaeso (7/1), Glen Shiel (10/1), First Contact (11/1), Motakhayyel (14/1), Greenside (14/1), Keyser Soze (14/1), Ebury (18/1), Firmament (18/1), Cliffs Of Capri (20/1), Lethal Lunch (20/1), Shelir (22/1), Blown By Wind (25/1), Flaming Spear (25/1), War Glory (33/1), Documenting (33/1), Hey Jonesy (33/1), Straight Right (50/1), Jack's Point (66/1), Habub (66/1), Gifted Master (80/1), Alexander James (100/1), Silent Attack (100/1)

A competitive opener to the meeting but a chance is taken on CLIFFS OF CAPRI who has the benefit of a run under his belt already (a promising second). Trainer Jamie Osbourne has a good record in valuable sprint handicaps at Ascot and this six-year-old has two wins from four starts here and wasn't beaten far in either of his course defeats. Ebury is another course winner who sneaks in at the bottom of the weights and he's less exposed than most. War Glory recorded five wins last year and has gone well in two previous runs at this venue.