The five-day Royal Ascot meeting begins Tuesday with an excellent six-race card that includes three Group 1 races and six American runners.
A year after Tepin won the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, two more Americans, Miss Temple City and American Patriot, start in Royal Ascot’s traditional first race of the meeting, a testing straight-course mile that has Ribchester as a strong favorite. First post all week at Ascot is 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, June 21, 2017)
RACE 1: #7 Highland Dragon, #4 Sparkling Talent, #3 Kim Glory, #1 Rugby Diamond
RACE 2: #3 Winning Vibe, #1 Gobi Storm, #6 Planet Giant, #7 Plain Blue Banner
RACE 3: #9 Golden Deer, #10 Confucius Spirit, #6 Nashashuk, #5 Phantom Falcon
RACE 4: #2 Fancy Music, #1 King Of Mongolia, #8 King Winsa, #10 Bo Duke
Senga finished powerfully to win a chaotic edition of the Group 1 Prix de Diane on Sunday at Chantilly.
Coming home on the outside under Stephane Pasquier, Senga, the well-beaten favorite in the French 1000 Guineas this spring, got home a full length clear of Sistercharlie, whose connections surely were left wondering what might have been after their filly was stuck in traffic midstretch before coming with a strong run between horses while going best at the wire.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, June 18)
Brett Davis
Race 1: 5-3-7-6
Race 2: 2-13-1-9
Race 3: 4-9-1-13
Race 4: 8-2-1-13
Race 5: -2-10-11
Race 6: 5-9-2-1
Race 7: 4-3-9-8
Race 8: 8-10-2-7
Race 9: 12-1-4-5
Race 10: 9-12-7-3
Best Bet- Race 4: #8 Namjong Invincible
Longshot - Race 9: #12 Rodrico
Best Play - Race 4: Q/QP 1,2,8
Paul Lally
Race 1: 5-3-7-6
Race 2: 1-13-2-11
Everyone in racing these days, it seems, looks forward to Royal Ascot.
Jockey Ryan Moore, who set a modern-day Ascot record with nine winners in 2015 and was the leading rider last year with six winners, is ready to get the party started.
“The main classics are done now, and Royal Ascot is the biggest week of the year in European racing,” Moore said in a telephone interview this week.
The five-day Royal Ascot meet commences Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern with the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, the meet’s traditional opener.
Shutter Speed and Rhododendron, who have won or placed in major stakes in England in the last month, may prove impossible for domestic runners to beat in Sunday’s Group 1 French Oaks at Chantilly Racecourse, north of Paris.
Shutter Speed and Rhododendron are expected to dominate the betting in the $1.12 million French Oaks, which is run at 1 5/16 miles on turf and is formally known as the Prix de Diane.
Shamal has had a meteoric rise in Hong Kong the last three months.
Winless in his first 11 Hong Kong starts, Shamal is unbeaten in four races since March 12, all six-furlong races on turf. Through the streak, Shamal has faced increasingly tougher rivals, and will start against the most difficult field of his Hong Kong career in Sunday’s $224,338 Racing Club Handicap at Sha Tin Racecourse.
The winning streak is in jeopardy.
SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, June 18)
RACE 1: #5 Hot King Prawn, #7 Chaparral Star, #6 Bingo, #3 Riverside Bird
RACE 2: #2 Aeroluminance, #13 Supernatural, #11 High Speed Metro, #6 Super Sweet Orange
RACE 3: #8 Penzance, #1 Metallic Star, #5 Experto Crede, #14 Wingold
RACE 4: #4 Super Talent, #8 Namjong Invincible, #9 Bolshoi Ballet, #13 Five Stars Agent
RACE 5: #2 Starship, #4 Zero Hedge, #3 Noble De Boy, #6 Our Folks
HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, June 14)
Brett Davis
Race 1: 5-3-4-1
Race 2: 2-1-9-3
Race 3: 2-9-6-7
Race 4: 1-2-5-3
Race 5: 5-6-10-1
Race 6: 5-6-7-2
Race 7: 5-7-9-6
Race 8: 11-7-3-10
Best Bet - Race 1: #5 Destin
Longshot - Race 5: #10 Super Duke
Best Play - Race 5: Q/QP 5,6,10
