Royal Ascot Race-By-Race Preview Day Two: Tartan Bearer the one to beat in the Prince of Wales's Stakes

Royal Ascot / Andrew Hughes / 16 June 2009 / Leave a Comment

Andrew Hughes talks us through every race on day three where the likes of Tartan Bearer, Forgotten Voice and Rose Blossom will all be in action.

2:30 Jersey Stakes

Day two gets underway with a typically fiendish contest featuring an enormous field packed full of unexposed and progressive young horses. This seven furlong battle down the straight is confined to three-year-olds who have yet to win a Group Two. In trying to work this one out, punters need to be adept at gauging potential and prepared to delve into the mystical world of pedigrees. If you are looking for pointers, the King Charles II Stakes at Newmarket can often be a good guide.

3:05 Windsor Forest Stakes

This is one of the more recent additions to the Royal meeting and was upgraded to Group Two status as part of the campaign to encourage connections of fillies and mares to keep their charges in training as four-year-olds. It is a race run down the straight mile and though it has once again attracted a relatively small field, it isn't a bad race for punters to get stuck into as most of these older horses have plenty of form in the book.

3:45 Prince of Wales's Stakes

This race has rapidly become one of the most important middle distance contests in the world, having only been promoted to Group One status as recently as 2000. It is run over ten furlongs and the relatively stiff nature of this course means that those horses capable of staying a little further are ideally suited. The roll call of previous winners is mightily impressive and includes Dubai Millenium, Fantastic Light, Grandera, Nayef, Rakti and Ouija Board. Current favourite is the admirably consistent Tartan Bearer at [3.05] but the winner of the Prix Ganay, Vision D'Etat is sure to be popular in the betting and is available at [4.4] in the antepost market.

4:20 Royal Hunt Cup

This is undoubtedly one of the most popular betting events of the week and as well as being a sturdy test of punting mettle, it offers a great spectacle for race fans. It is a mile long Heritage Handicap and features a huge field of thoroughbreds thundering down the broad Ascot straight. As ever, there will be much speculation as to where the best ground lies on the straight course, but it is usually more useful to know where the early pace is likely to come from. History tells us that previous experience of the straight at Ascot can be a big advantage and if you are looking for other clues, May's Victoria Cup can be a very informative trial. The clear current favourite is the undefeated but lightly raced four-year-old Forgotten Voice.

4:55 Queen Mary Stakes

This is the first Group race of the year for two-year-old fillies and offers just as much of a challenge to the punter as yesterday's Coventry Stakes. It is purely about speed, run over five furlongs and those with stout sprinting pedigrees will be to the fore. The Hillary Needler Trophy at Beverley can be a good guide but punters also need to be able to root out those fillies with the most potential, so a certain amount of reading between the form lines is required, as well as an awareness of which stables are capable of having one ready for this contest. It is likely to be a fairly open betting market with Richard Fahey's once raced Rose Blossom likely to be favoured.

5:30 Sandringham Handicap

A devilishly tricky one to finish the second day and one that will be a real test for punters looking to finish the card on a high. This is a Listed handicap confined to three-year-old fillies and run over a mile. Whilst there should be plenty of evidence of how the course is riding by this stage, these three-year-old handicaps are never easy to tackle, with so many of these horses yet to show their full potential and as a result, this is a race to tread carefully in. If you are thinking of a bet, look out for horses unraced as two year olds but with winning form already this season.