Day one of Royal Ascot 2024 rolls around on Tuesday and you had better be ready for a fast start, as there are three Group 1 races in the first four on the card.
The opening Queen Anne Stakes will determine who is the best among the older milers, before the three-year-olds get their chance over the same trip later in the afternoon in the St James’s Palace Stakes. In between the sprinters will face off in the King Charles III Stakes.
Our expert, Clive Gildon, has a trio of selections on the card including two from the Group 1s that make this one of the most explosive starts to any racing festival.
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Tuesday’s tips
2.30 Royal Ascot – Royal Scotsman
The Queen Anne Stakes has twice been won by big outsiders in recent years and this running looks ripe for another shock. Early favourite Charyn has yet to win a Group 1 after six attempts, while Facteur Cheval has only recently nabbed his first top-level success after multiple attempts.
There are a few bigger priced sorts you could make a case for, but the most pressing is for Royal Scotsman. He was clearly Group 1 quality last year, when he placed in the 2,000 Guineas. He came off the rails soon after, but looked back to his best when winning handily at Epsom on Derby day.
Now he is back in form and Jamie Spencer has found the key to him with more positive tactics, Royal Scotsman deserves to be given plenty of respect against a pretty ordinary group of older milers. He may be able to get in a Group 1 before the three-year-olds step up into open-age company.
3.45 Royal Ascot – Regional
The story of Big Evs has long since overtaken his form. Which is not to say that he is not Group 1 quality, just that he has not proved he should be favourite for an open-age Group 1.
Regional has already won one of those, the Sprint Cup at Haydock in September. He is notably fast, holding the five-furlong course record at the same track, and should be just as effective at five furlongs.
You could easily argue that Regional has not yet stopped improving, either. Since the start of last season, he has won all but two of his races. Both involved him coming off a break, and even then his most recent run in Ireland suggested that he would have won had he been race-fit.
That outing will have put Regional spot-on for this. A stiff test at five furlongs is likely to suit ideally and he, rather than Big Evs, deserves to be favourite for this.
5.40 Royal Ascot – Israr
While it could be argued that Israr has not won as many races as a horse with his talent should have, his consistency is hard to knock. In 17 runs, most at a high level, he has been out of the first three only three times.
On his most recent run, in the Huxley Stakes at Chester, Israr ran into Passenger. That horse was ruled out of the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes due to a setback, but had he run he would have been among the favourites. Israr has been handed a much easier assignment at Royal Ascot.
All ground comes alike to Israr, who has won on heavy and, more importantly given likely conditions here, beat former Derby winner Adayar on good to firm ground last summer. He should be able to master his rivals here before returning to Group races.
Tuesday’s tips
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