Horse Racing Betting Tips: Waldgeist can land the second day feature for magical Fabre
IT SHOULD be all about glorious sunshine and fashion at Royal Ascot, but if some weather forecasts are to be believed racegoers could be scrambling for shelter with plenty of rain about.
The challenge for us tipsters is to anticipate how much, if any, will actually fall and what impact it will have on the ground.
Only eight runners are set to line up for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (3.40pm) with Aidan O’Brien’s MAGICAL favourite for the feature contest on the second day of the meeting.
It is clear to see why she is just 15/8 with Ladbrokes as she is in terrific form and seems extremely versatile when it comes to both ground and trip.
She won the Group One Fillies & Mares Stakes over two furlongs further on soft ground at this very venue last October, before running Enable so close on decent ground in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
The drop back to 10 furlongs hasn’t inconvenienced her in the slightest this campaign, completing three effortless victories over the trip already.
Stablemate Flag Of Honour must be sick to death of chasing her backside having finished second to her on all three of those victories.
She is unquestionably the one to beat here but faces a far stiffer test this afternoon and there may just be a little bit of value in taking her on.
Regular followers of this column will remember that I picked French raider WALDGEIST in last year’s Arc where he ran on to finish fourth.
That run was a little underwhelming, as were his fifth-place finishes in both the Breeders’ Cup Turf and the Hong Kong Vase.
All three of those starts were well below the form he showed last summer when he rattled off four Group race victories, including the Group One Grand Prix de Saint Cloud.
It could have been that he was simply feeling the effects of a busy campaign and too much travel when his season petered out like it did.
However, he looked a different horse when returning from a 140-day break in late April to land the Group One Prix Ganay in scintillating fashion.
The combination of a drop in trip on rain-softened ground worked the oracle and he ran out a comprehensive winner from some useful types including Study Of Man and Ghaiyyath.
His masterful trainer has won this valuable contest twice before with Manduro (2007) and Byword (2010), so this has no doubt been the plan for some time.
At 11/2 in places, he looks well worth each-way support, particularly with any rain that falls a bonus.
Plenty will fancy last year’s unlucky Arc runner-up Sea Of Class to get back to winning ways, but this will be her first start of the season over an inadequate trip.
If the rain does materialise, that would be a concern too as she has never encountered ground with the word ‘soft’ in the description.
Instead, I fancy Sir Michael Stoute’s CRYSTAL OCEAN to grab the final spot up for grabs.
He seems to go particularly well at Ascot having won last season’s Hardwicke Stakes before going on to finish a neck second to stablemate Poet’s Word in the King George.
Both of those races were over an extra two furlongs and there is a slight suspicion that may just be his ideal trip.
He is bound to be there or thereabouts but could be vulnerable to those with a few more gears.
If there is one to spoil the party from left field, it is likely to be Zabeel Prince who seems to be hitting his prime at the age of six.
He is lightly raced and has won both starts this campaign, including his latest victory at Group One level at Longchamp last time.
There is no doubt he seems to be blossoming in his old age, but he will need to step up again to shake up the leading contenders and isn’t guaranteed to stay.
BILL ESDAILE’S PRINCE OF WALES’S STAKES 1-2-3
1 WALDGEIST
2 MAGICAL
3 CRYSTAL OCEAN