Royal Hunt Cup DAWN OF LIBERATION shaped encouragingly in the circumstances on second run back from wind surgery last month and may be peaking at the right time for the Royal Hunt Cup. Richard Hannon’s four-year-old made the cardinal sin of missing the break round Chester’s tight turns but stayed on well from rear under top-weight to finish fourth over the extended seven furlongs. That was a big improvement on his reappearance effort at Newmarket’s Guineas Festival where he looked badly in need of the run after a ten-month absence. If he steps forward again here he could be capable of a big show based on the pick of his form last season, since when he’s been dropped 9lb in the handicap ratings. A decisive winner at Doncaster and Goodwood either side of a bafflingly poor run in the Feilden at HQ, he was rated 107 and went off 15-8 favourite for the Surrey Stakes at Epsom on Oaks day only to finish fourth. Another disappointing Listed performance followed at Newmarket’s July Festival, after which Hannon drew stumps with him and ordered the breathing op for early this year. A well-bred colt whose two-year-old novice/maiden form also stacks up well, this half-brother to Group 1/Group 2 winners Toormore and Estidhkaar takes the eye off 98 going back up slightly in trip on a stiffer track. Recommended Bet: 1pt each-way DAWN OF LIBERATION (33-1 bet365, Coral, Ladbrokes, 28-1 Betfred, William Hill) :: Bet Royal Ascot racing on DRF Bets Wokingham Handicap KHANJAR appears to be coming nicely to the boil for William Haggas ahead of the Wokingham Handicap. The four-year-old, course and distance winner on his final start as a juvenile, has the makings of a high-class handicapper based on the progress he made last summer. Clear-cut victories at Ripon and Haydock were complemented in between by a close-up third in a hot three-year-old handicap at Newmarket’s July Festival. That profile saw him start 9-2 favourite for the Ayr Gold Cup but, as feared by the trainer beforehand, he proved ‘not streetwise enough’ for a big-field sprint at that stage of his career. Upping him to seven furlongs for a Listed backend event at Redcar didn’t work out, but he ran better than his finishing position suggests when finishing mid-division on his return to action at York’s Dante Festival. Beaten only four and a half lengths there, Jim Crowley was easy on him in the last furlong once it was clear his chance had gone, suggesting the run was probably needed. Although a beaten warm favourite at Hamilton last week, it was still an encouraging effort to finish a closing second under a hold-up ride in a race in which the winner and comfortably-held third got first run. The upshot is that he’s heading to Ascot off 3lb lower than his Ayr Gold Cup mark, a more clued-up sort now and presumably primed to justify Haggas’s view last autumn that ‘he's certainly got the potential to develop into a really nice horse in due course.’ Recommended Bet: 1pt win KHANJAR (12-1 general) :: Royal Ascot 2023: Get PPs, previews, analysis, recaps, and more Gold Cup SUBJECTIVIST was a hugely impressive winner of the Gold Cup two years ago and may be ready to repeat the feat after missing the whole of last season recovering from a tendon injury. Charlie Johnston’s six-year-old did not run again in 2021 after the royal meeting and only made his return to action in Saudi Arabia four months ago. That run was clearly needed as he finished down the field after racing too freely (excusable after a 618-day absence) but his third to Broome in the Dubai Gold Cup a month later was much more like it. Subjectivist had won the corresponding renewal of that race prior to his Ascot romp and is taking the same route again, the Johnston camp keen to pick their targets carefully with a horse on the comeback trail. “We thought about races like the Sagaro and Yorkshire Cup but, in view of his injury and subsequent layoff, decided we would save him for the big targets and another Ascot Gold Cup is top of the agenda,” Johnston explained in early April. Notwithstanding the below-par performance of Stradivarius on the day - John Gosden’s legend finished fourth after trouble in running - it was still an emphatic display by the selection. He could probably have doubled the five-length winning margin over runner-up Princess Zoe had Joe Fanning let him and that mare was beaten less than seven lengths by Kyprios when sixth in a hot renewal last year (Stradivarius close third). Last year’s St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov and second-past-the post Haskoy (demoted to fourth at Doncaster) bring obvious potential to the table but are unproven over the trip whereas we know Subjectivist stays 2m4f strongly. Recommended Bet: 1pt win SUBJECTIVIST (10-1 general)