Five Royal Ascot Antepost Tips: Back a new star and handicap picks at 10/1 and 20/1

• Back a potential new staying superstar for the Ascot Gold Cup

• Wokingham and Hunt Cup selections recommended

• Alan Dudman previews Royal Ascot with five antepost selections 

Tuesday, Ascot 14:30 Queen Anne Stakes: Back Rosallion @ 11/43.75

A meeting with such prestige couldn't begin at a higher scale than the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes and the potential rematch of Rosallion versus Notable Speech doesn't quite have the same oomph in terms of the Godolphin challenger who was not only six lengths behind Rosallion in last year's St James's Palace Stakes, but lacked sparkle in his comeback run in the Lockinge.

Rosallion, who finished third at Newbury, was weaker in the betting that day than another rival Dancing Gemini, and while all appeared well pre-race before Newbury with Richard Hannon, it seemed post-race that he might well have needed the outing.

I think the quotes from Hannon Jnr are probably well aired now, but speaking on the Nick Luck Podcast recently he said: "I took him away three times and he had done loads. I was staggered with the amount he blew in the winners' enclosure afterwards.".

"He's always a bit like that anyway but I was like 'my god he's done loads' and Sean said 'he'll win the Queen Anne' so I said 'that's good, I'm OK with that now!"

Ascot is akin to Cheltenham as it's where the connections want the winners most. Easy to say, but the target for the summer overrides anything else and with Notable Speech potentially not suited to Ascot on his run 12 months ago, Rosallion looks a decent bet at 11/43.75.

He's unbeaten at Ascot with a 2-2 record as he sparkled as a juvenile in the Pat Eddery and remains one of the Timeform top rated older horses in Europe with a master rating of 126.

In the words of John Gosden this week, it's a real humdinger.

Tuesday, Ascot 15:05 Coventry Stakes: Back Rogue Legend E/W @ 25/126.00

The signature of those that buy for Wathnan and Amo Racing has acquired new value these days with the fortunes spent on a Royal Ascot juvenile and between those two upcoming powerhouses there are five holding entries for the Coventry Stakes. And that's without mentioning the challenge of Ballydoyle and Godolphin, so these are choppy waters to make a challenge.

I've raved about Paddy Twomey this term - a trainer really making his mark in Ireland, and Rogue Legend with his experience looks worth an each-way punt at 25/126.00 in a devilish race.

Despite a defeat on his debut at Cork this season at a short price, he used that experience well to produce a more polished performance to win back at the Mallow track on his second run.

He bagged the rail and was merely pushed out, and over 5f there, the 6f now looks a suitable trip but he isn't short of pace either judged on his four furlong split of 10.54 seconds.

The striking young grey then usurped both Cork runs with an even better performance in slightly easier going with an all-the-way win making all to score by three lengths at Tipperary - and he was conceding a fair bit of weight to the opposition too in giving 12lb to the runner-up.

He's by the young sire par excellence in Havana Grey and has done enough to impress new owners Resolute Racing - who swooped recently to snap him up.

John Stewart of American-based Resolute Racing said: "I was impressed with his recent performance on the track and plan to run him in one of the two-year-old sprint races at Royal Ascot. We will enter him in all of them and then pick the race.

"With a Timeform rating of 104 he is one of the top two-year-old sprint horses in Europe and I expect for him to be very competitive."

I'd hope so too, and we've got a big price to play with here each-way at 25s.

Wednesday, Ascot 17:00 Royal Hunt Cup: Back Arabian Light E/W @ 20/121.00

Charlie Appelby's Arabian Light looked a horse of immense promise last year as a three-year-old in blowing away rivals at Newmarket and Kempton to earn himself a winter holiday out in Meydan.

He looked potential Stakes' class at HQ when eased down to win by three lengths before an even better display at Kempton at silly odds of 1/51.20 by an even bigger margin - and on both occasions barely had a race.

The four-year-old looks a powerhouse and brute of a horse and he would have learned plenty despite the stroll at Kempton, and taking out Meydan, he produced a good return in the UK when last seen at Newmarket when third.

Newmarket didn't look his track at all, and the 1m1f maybe just caught him out after coming out of the dip, but the form looked good enough with Fox Legacy winning off 90 and the second Bopedro off 99. He was giving weight away to both from 106 and wasn't given a hard end of race at all.

Ascot looks a track for him and well-run 1m, and we're nowhere near to seeing what this son of Kingman can do.

Thursday, Ascot Gold Cup 16:20: Back Candelari @ 3/14.00

The Waterloo battles will be played out on the plains of Ascot with a strong challenge from French trainer Francis-Henri Graffard, and his promising young stayer is a horse very much on the up.

With the stamina-laden prize without a certain Kyprios this year, the question we have to ask ourselves is whether there is a golden charm in those Ascot beams, and in Cendelari, I think there is.

If you haven't seen his debut win at Chantilly as a three-year-old, I urge you do so. The French would use an adjective along the lines of "etonnant" for that eight length victory - all the more remarkable given he was held up by about 20 lengths at the start in rear.

That's the sort of performance you want to see in a racehorse. Even more remarkable was that he was 4/15.00 that day in December.

Bred by the Aga Khan, a late-starter he may be, but he's been exceptional thus far and won another Chantilly race by eight lengths before a Group 1 scalping in the Prix Vicomtesse Vigier over 1m7f.

Rider Clement Lecoeuvre stood in for Mikael Barzalona for the Vigier, and he couldn't believe his luck.

"What's happened to me here is extraordinary," said the jockey after the win.

"I'm already very lucky to be able to ride for the Aga Khan Studs in the mornings. Mickael is suspended but he gave me everything I needed to know from A to Z, and I knew Candelari as well from riding work.

"I had a slight worry he might lack for experience, but we knew the quality was there and I'm just overwhelmed at how well it all went and how good he is. It's special to win in these fantastic colours."

In terms of stamina, it looked unlimited at the end and it was no surprise that all the fancy prices had gone for the Ascot race and was at one stage 6/17.00 from 25/126.00.

The trainer was equally complimentary by saying: "This was a proper Group 1 test and I think he's a champion at this trip. He's entered in the Gold Cup. We'll see how he comes out of this, but you know I like to challenge over there when the opportunity presents itself."

The race needs its next staying superstar. Will he stay the marathon trip? Emphatically I think so, and this son of Frankel brings together the heady blend aesthetic curation and pure staying power. And these Frankels gallop all day long.

Saturday, Ascot 17:00 The Wokingham Stakes: Back Jarraaf @ 10/111.00

Jarraaf, like Arabian Light, has a big enough rating to guarantee a place in the Wokingham line-up from 105 and while Owen Burrows wouldn't have a huge amount of numbers for the big festivals, the emphasis with him is very much quality over quantity.

We're going here for a fairly prominent runner in the market on the Sportsbook at 10/111.00 and in a short space of time he's already raced on three occasions at Ascot over 6f with two victories and a second.

It was a golden summer for him at Ascot last year as he beat track regular Fresh in July with a strong-finishing effort and also took in the Shergar Cup with another win and visually more impressive going away. The Shergar Cup pace was stronger and that suited him to a tee, and the finish is very much his metier.

His final appearance last term was in soft conditions at Ascot, and while he travelled well, his finish wasn't quite as strong although he really ought to have been driven closer to Apollo One sooner rather than later.

Burrows gave an insight into Jarraff in his recent Sporting Life Stable Tour by saying:

"He has done very well over the course of the winter. I will probably start him in the Cathedral Stakes and he will have an entry in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

"He showed he likes the stiff six furlongs at Ascot, whether or not he can be a genuine six furlong horse everywhere we will see. He might be one for an easy seven furlongs so he could be one for the City Of York in August. That would be on the agenda if he was good enough."

"He is a strong traveller, but he is a bit more of a grinder. He is now 106 rated so he doesn't have to improve massively to be mixing it in these top sprints. He wouldn't have Minzaal's initial explosive speed, but he has always shown us plenty at home."

The comeback run indeed did come in the Cathedral Stakes at Salisbury, and like me, didn't produce his best in that part of the world as I too failed in Salisbury as I didn't get into their Art College in the 1990s.

With his Ascot form off a mark of 106 he's a big player, unlike my artistic efforts in Wiltshire. 

Now read Mike Norman's Ultimate Guide To Royal Ascot 2025 here!