SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, June 21, 2020)

And just like that, it’s already closing day of the Royal Ascot meeting, though closing day during 2020 looks different than closing days of recent years.

Lord North wore the crown in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes on Wednesday at Royal Ascot, sending his rivals south for the summer with a homestretch burst of speed much too hot for any of them to handle.

Bursting between Japan and Barney Roy a furlong and a half from the finish after jockey James Doyle guided him off the inside for a final run, Lord North made his Group 1 debut look like a canter through Hyde Park posting a 3 3/4-length victory.

The process behind finding the winner of a race can be as long or as short as one wishes to make it. It can be as simple as eeny, meeny, miny, moe or as complicated as an hours-long dive into every conceivable variable in search of relevant information.

The third day of Royal Ascot on Thursday sees Hugh Taylor with three advised bets.

FINEST SOUND and GREAT AMBASSADOR, the latter win and place, are my two against the field in the Britannia Handicap (Royal Ascot 4.10).

Great Ambassador had five runs as a 2yo and might look too exposed for a race like this, but those runs really do stand up to close inspection.

Simon Rowlands tipped up 14-1 winner Hukum on Wednesday and has three selections plus analysis online for Thursday at Royal Ascot.

The vagaries of the British weather will not have been far from the minds of most punters this week and seem particularly relevant when considering Thursday’s card at Royal Ascot. Conditions were by no means testing on the first two days but some localised downpours are predicted for Wednesday night and Thursday.

The consistency that the gelding Inquiry has displayed in recent months, along with his speed, will make him a deserving favorite in a seven-furlong handicap at Gold Coast Racecourse in Australia on Friday.

The 5-year-old has won 5 of 7 starts since returning from a 10-week break in mid-March. He won four consecutive races for trainer Jareh Wehlow and a race in late May for current trainer John Smerdon.

Kimari has some unfinished business at Royal Ascot, and she can take care of it Friday in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup.

The speedy filly Which Lily has compiled a three-race winning streak since December utilizing her quickness to lead throughout races at five furlongs at Townsville Racecourse in Australia.

Thursday, Which Lily starts at six furlongs for the first time in the Northern Classic Plate at Townsville, a distance that could provide a stern test. She is one of five fillies in a field of 10, but is not the only one capable of setting the pace. Which Lily could be challenged by Kaoru Princess, a maiden race winner in December.

Short-cut the form study! Kevin Blake has done the hard work for you and presents his cheat-sheet for three races on Thursday.

The process behind finding the winner of a race can be as long or as short as one wishes to make it. It can be as simple as eeny, meeny, miny, moe or as complicated as an hours-long dive into every conceivable variable in search of relevant information.