Kevin Blake's Royal Ascot 2023 Best Bets: Five top tips from our expert tipster

• Kevin Blake brings us his five top tips for Royal Ascot

• Believes 3/14.00 Coltrane can star in the Gold Cup

• Has no beef with backing Wellington in the QE II Jubilee Stakes

Wednesday - Windsor Castle: Back Barnwell Boy

The two-year-old races at Royal Ascot are always a source of great excitement and expectation amongst both the racing and bloodstock fraternities. Reputations can be made and broken in a little over a minute in each of the races. Inevitably, a lot more dreams are broken than realised.

One that I'll be hoping can very much deliver is the Charlie Johnston-trained Barnwell Boy in the Windsor Castle Stakes.

The son of Starspangledbanner created a tremendously good impression when making a winning debut in a six-furlong novice at Goodwood last month, making all the running to beat the subsequent winner Packard by 4½ lengths. Even considering a tailwind on the day, the time of the race reads very well and it stamps him as an exciting prospect.

I would have fancied him in the Coventry Stakes, but his connections have elected not to enter him for that race and will instead aim him at the Windsor Castle Stakes over the minimum trip.

He certainly didn't look short of pace at Goodwood and with the Windsor Castle usually representing calmer waters (Little Big Bear an exception to that last year), he looks to have strong prospects of maintaining his unbeaten record.

Thursday - Ribblesdale Stakes: Back Lumiere Rock

Sorting out what is and isn't going to run in the Ribblesdale Stakes isn't the easiest of exercises at the time of writing, but one that is confirmed for the race and looks to have a solid chance at a big price is the Joseph O'Brien-trained Lumiere Rock.

The daughter of Saxon Warrior has progressed with each of her six starts to date, winning a Group 3 at the Curragh last October and producing another improved effort when a close second to stable mate Caroline Street in the Blue Wind Stakes at Naas in May.

On that occasion she gave the impression that, as she often has in her career, that she will be even better with an even greater emphasis on stamina. Thus, the step up to this one-and-a-half mile trip very much promises to suit.

She is a straightforward ride that likes to be positively ridden which is always a plus around the round track at Ascot and the likely sounder surface shouldn't inconvenience her.

Lumiere Rock may well be trading at a big price, but she could be outrun those odds by putting up a bold show.

Thursday - Gold Cup: Back Coltrane

The Ascot Gold Cup scene lost a star with the retirement of Stradivarius at the end of last season and it has changed complexion multiple times in recent months. The new divisional leader Kyprios was ruled out after meeting with a setback and another established staying star Trueshan has fluffed his lines this season giving the race a wide-open appearance.

The market has been crying out for something to latch onto, but perhaps the answer has been there all along in the shape of the Andrew Balding-trained Coltrane.

The six-year-old has been something of a late bloomer, but he marched up the ranks in no uncertain terms last year starting with his win in the Ascot Stakes over this course and distance at this meeting. He went on to win the Doncaster Cup and was unlucky not to add the British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot to his tally as well.

He returned from his winter break looking as good as ever when winning the Sagaro Stakes by 4¾ lengths and looks capable of even better still.

Unlike many of his leading rivals, he is very much proven over this extreme distance and will have no worries regardless of whether the thunder storms hit the track during the week or not. He looks to have a really solid chance and might well prove to be hard to beat.

Friday - Albany Stakes: Back Navassa Island

The Albany Stakes is always a fiercely-competitive contest for the two-year-old fillies and it has been won by some stars of the future over the years. One that has very much caught my eye for the race is the Michael O'Callaghan-trained Navassa Island.

The daughter of Territories has plenty to recommend her on pedigree given she is a half-sister to the Cheveley Park Stakes winner Lezoo, but she evidently also impressed at the Craven Breeze-Up Sale at Tattersalls, as she realised 240,000gns.

That was made to look like money well spent when she was thrown into the deep end for her debut in a Group 3 contest at Naas last month.

She showed her inexperience in the middle part of the race, steadily dropping back to the rear, but once she was wheeled into open country inside the two-furlong pole she produced an impressive turn of foot to fail by just a neck to run down Porta Fortuna.

It was a run full of promise and one that she seems sure to improve from. This race will be a tough examination of her level of know-how at this early stage of her career, but she looks to have more than enough talent to get very competitive if things drop her way.

Saturday - QE II Jubilee Stakes: Back Wellington

The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes can usually be relied upon to produce an international field of sprinters and this year is no different. With entries from Britain, Ireland, Spain, Australia, America and Hong Kong, it promises to be a fascinating contest.

As has been illustrated on a multitude of occasions over the years at this meeting, the international runners can prove very difficult to beat in top-class sprinter even when playing away from home. That may well prove to be the case again this year and my preference is for one from Hong Kong in the shape of the Richard Gibson-trained Wellington.

The six-year-old may not be the most familiar name to many racing followers in this part of the world, but make no mistake, he is one of the very best sprinters on the planet at present.

One might look at his record and think that he gets beat a lot for one given such a billing, but he has had the misfortune to consistently bump into Lucky Sweynesse, who very much is the best sprinter in the world with an official rating of 125.

Wellington appeals as being well armed for the test that this race presents having already won a Group 1 over seven furlongs in Hong Kong.

Ryan Moore rode him to win the Hong Kong Sprint last December and it is significant that he committed to ride him again in this a number of weeks ago. He looks to have a really good chance and is likely to shorten in the market in the days ahead.

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