Wednesday's Royal Ascot Tips: Mark Milligan's Prince Of Wales's Stakes Preview

The race I'll be focusing on for the second day of the Royal Ascot meeting is the 1m 2f Group 1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes at 15:40.

Won by the likes of Dubai Millenium, Fantastic Light, Ouija Board and So You Think since the turn of the century, the race has established itself alongside the Eclipse and Juddmonte International as one of the top middle-distance races of the summer.

We haven't got a big field for this year's renewal, but there's no shortage of intrigue, and as befits the Royal meeting, it's drawn a truly international cast.

With a couple of runners from the UK, one from Ireland, a challenger trained by a French-based Italian, and even representation from Japan, the race really encapsulates everything Royal Ascot has tried to embrace in the last decade or so.

The main contenders

Bay Bridge has been favourite for the race since a stunning comeback win in the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown last month, where he always travelled supremely well before dismantling Mostahdaf in the final furlong.

A horse who was on a real roll last year, he rattled off a four timer having started off in novice company Newcastle, rounding off his year with a listed success at Newmarket.

Some may point to his relative lack of experience at this level, and that he's taking on Group 1 foes for the first time, but that's not a big consideration for me viewed through the prism of ratings.

It may not have been a Group 1 race but everything about his Sandown success told us that Bay Bridge is a genuine Group 1 performer.

State Of Rest has been a real globetrotter for the Joseph O'Brien stable and one of this horses best traits appears to be his constitution.

He's won in America, Australia and France in the last year or so and looked none the worse for those travails when finishing a close third to Alenquer and High Definition in the Tattersalls Gold Cup last time.

Shahryar represents Japan and he was perhaps a tad fortunate to win the Dubai Sheema Classi at Meydan last time, where he was always well placed compared to the likes of Yibir and Pyledriver, who both could be considered somewhat unlucky.

The 2020 winner of this race Lord North is back for another crack, and while he probably hasn't quite hit the same heights since this year, he was was still good enough to force a dead heat on his penultimate start in the Dubai Turf.

His last run when fourth in the aforementioned Tattersalls Gold Cup gives him a little to find with State Of Rest, and it's worth noting he won't be getting any better at the age of six.

How will it be run?

The pace forecast for this race is murky at best, with none of the field confirmed front runners.

We could be in a situation where they go steady early on and it turns into something of a sprint up the short Ascot home straight.

For me, that could well play against the Japanese raider Shahryar, whose best form has been over 1m 4f, whilst it's also worth noting that Japanese Group 1 races are, by and large, more strongly run than their European counterparts.

Conversely, he is likely to be ridden quite handily, which may counter the expected lack of pace somewhat.

It could also be worth mentioning the French raider Grand Glory at this point, who is unlikely to be fazed if the early pace is on the slow side.

In contrast to races in Japan, French contests can unfold at relatively sedate early fractions, with horses in that jurisdiction trained to quicken up at the business end, though whether her overall form is quite good enough is open to debate.

How to play the race

I've had Bay Bridge down as my banker of the entire meeting since that devastating display in the Brigadier Gerard, and I'm not about to desert him now.

However, this column is all about trying to approach the races from a different angle rather than selecting straight win bets, so how can we be with Bay Bridge but still make decent profit on the race?

The answer is likely to be found in the forecast market on the Sportsbook, where we can play Bay Bridge on top of the other contenders in the race, and essentially get a better-value win bet if we're correct.

I'm going to be bold here and toss the Japanese runner, as there are enough doubts over the trip and how the race could be run to allow me to swerve him.

Rightly or wrongly, I'm going to treat Lord North as on the downgrade, though the number of times Frankie Dettori has made a fool of me is certainly mounting!

There are two straight forecasts that appeal here: Bay Bridge over State Of Rest at 6.05/1 and Bay Bridge over Grand Glory at 7.06/1.

I'm a fan of State Of Rest and how hardy he's been in all the big races he's contested, while I didn't want to leave out the French challenger given this could play to his strengths.

While the two forecasts are the main plays, it could be worth chancing a small-stakes tricast, using Bay Bridge, State Of Rest and Grand Glory in that order at 17.016/1.