Racing
Royal Ascot 2023: Five Outsiders To Consider
In part 1 of 6 in the 2023 Royal Ascot Series for ColossusBets, I have picked out Five Outsiders To Consider. Three could feature in the Royal Hunt Cup, while the other two make up the Gold Cup and the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes.
Biggles
Trainer: Ralph Beckett
Possible target: Royal Hunt Cup (Wednesday 21st June)
One of my favourite races of the week is the Royal Hunt Cup, which isn’t the easiest of handicaps to solve, but I have been fortunate to have found the winner on a few occasions.
With still a large quantity of entries in the race at this stage, anything can happen between now and then but the Ralph Beckett-trained Biggles is almost guaranteed to run barring any issues, who has established himself as a horse firmly on the upgrade.
He will arrive at the Berkshire venue with the-all-important course experience under his belt having chased home the likeable Rebel Territory in the Victoria Cup when a clear second of 22 and surely has more to come, especially back on better ground.
That form is starting to work out well already with Ropey Guest winning a good race since, plus a few of the horses he had in behind such as Safe Voyage, Vafortino and Perotto are really smart horses in their own right with a chunk of good-quality course form to their name.
He ultimately proved no match for the runaway winner but he fared best of those drawn high, winning his side of the group and could improve for the step up to a mile. His mark remains workable on the balance and he could make his presence felt.
Chasing Aphrodite
Trainer: Harry Eustace
Possible target: Royal Hunt Cup (Wednesday 21st June)
Sticking with the Royal Hunt Cup, the Harry Eustace-trained Chasing Aphrodite is another horse to consider for this race at Royal Ascot, who is a winner of three of his six starts and impressed with the way he won over course-and-distance on his return early last month.
His record on the turf now reads three wins from four starts and after travelling fairly well through the race, he stayed on strongly inside the final furlong to win going away, in which he had over a length to spare from Yaanaas with Helm Rock comfortably held back in third.
The second would have won next-time-out from a mark of 93 with a clear passage when a fast-finishing fourth at Sandown, while the third ran really well in finishing second in that same race at Sandown as well, which came off a mark of 92, too.
This son of Profitable is likely to go up a couple of pounds as a result of his winning reappearance but that doesn’t seem too subdued, as he is probably still a horse ahead of the assessor and this race is his only entry at the moment. One to bear in mind.
Astro King
Trainer: Daniel Kubler
Possible target: Royal Hunt Cup (Wednesday 21st June)
The biggest eye-catcher at the York Dante Festival was Astro King, who finished fourth of 16 in the Sky Bet Hambleton Handicap, after not enjoying the rub-of-the-green when the race started to develop before flying late to make the frame.
The six-year-old was making his seasonal/stable debut and was held-up right out the back of the field. Once the field turned into the home-straight, the eye was drawn to this horse, who begun to glide his way through the field under Richard Kingscote.
He was the last horse off the bridle and between the two and one furlong pole he was waiting for a gap to appear to make his challenge when full-of-running but unfortunately the gaps opened up for him far too late.
Still, once he found daylight, after playing bumper cars with a few rivals, he powered through strongly to only beaten a length and three-quarters and the handicapper is likely to either drop him a pound or keep him on the same mark of 99.
Whatever the cost is from that performance, he is going to be well-handicapped heading into the Royal Hunt Cup for a third time. He has twice had a go at this contest, finishing second in 2021 off 98 and then when fourth twelve months ago off 102.
Notably, he will strip fitter from his reappearance and it’s probably a blessing in disguise that he got beat last time, as he undoubtedly would have gone up in the handicap if he won last time.
I have highlighted three outsiders for the same race but even if a couple of these end up elsewhere at the meeting (doubtful) they are outsiders worth close consideration, as I believe all three are capable of landing a valuable pot.
Internationalangel
Trainer: Jane Chapple-Hyam
Possible target: Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (Wednesday 21st June)
A gorgeous-grey mare with bags of experience, who’s rapidly graduated through the ranks the last couple of years, in which she has remarkably gone from a rating of 59 to 105 and is continuing to go from strength-to-strength for her shrewd handler.
She won five on the bounce in the backend of 2021 and improved into 2022, finishing second four times, twice in France and also when chasing home Highfield Princess at Newcastle, as well as when beaten a head in a Group 3 at Goodwood by Oscula.
Her two-length fourth to Pogo in a Group 2 is also a strong piece of form, while her final start of last year saw her finish third to all-weather specialist Queen Aminatu in the Fleur De Lys Fillies’ Stakes on all-weather championship finals day at Lingfield.
Interestingly, all three of her starts this year have come in Meydan and she’s improved with each start and was last seen running well behind Al Suhail when third. This is her only entry at Royal Ascot at the time of writing, so it has probably been her main target. Either way, she’s an outsider for the notebook wherever she runs.
Courage Mon Ami
Trainer: John & Thady Gosden
Possible target: Gold Cup (Thursday 22nd June)
In the Group 1 Gold Cup, a race that has often produced some of the best finishes of the week, with Order Of St George’s victory still fresh in the memory, I turn my attention to an interesting candidate, Courage Mon Ami, who is unbeaten in three starts.
He won his first couple of starts by a combined 11 lengths and then took the rise in trip and grade in his stride when beating a decent field at Goodwood, where he travelled well and looked all about stamina when staying on strongly to win by over two lengths.
Although entering unknown-territory over this further increase in stamina, and likely to start a biggish price, he is clearly a smart prospect and connections know how to get a good one ready for the Gold Cup, having had Stradivarius win this three times in recent years.
The further he went last time, the better he looked, and while he falls short behind a few of these on ratings, he is totally unexposed and could be a top-class stayer for connections. I know it will be hard for him to follow in the footsteps of Stradivarius but he’s going the right way and is one to keep an eye on.
