'Key Horse' making the bookies 'sweat' on day 2 of Royal Ascot

Spokesperson for William Hill, Lee Phelps, said: "Day Three of Royal Ascot is here and the 30-degree heat is not the only thing making us sweat.

"Charles Darwin is a hot 4/6 favourite in the opening Norfolk Stakes, and he really is the key horse today. If he goes in for Aidan O’Brien, there could be plenty of money rolling onto the remaining Ryan Moore rides given his strong book this afternoon.

"Elsewhere, Propose, an O’Brien second string in the King George V, is attracting good each-way money, and he has halved into 10/1 from 20s.

"Interestingly in the Gold Cup, it’s Candelari who’s receiving strong support. The French raider is a strong 9/4 chance now from 10/3, and we want him and Illinois beat come race-time."

2.305f. 15 Declared.
Norfolk Stakes (Group 2) (Class 1 ) of £150,000.00 2-y-o

• Formscan
• Race Info

1st - €85,065.00 2nd - €32,250.00 3rd - €16,140.00 4th - €8,040.00 5th - €4,035.00 6th - €2,025.00 Going - Good to Firm. 

Formscan - Not one of the last 10 favourites managed to win this race, which doesn't bode well for Charles Darwin, who topped many ante post betting lists after building on his Curragh debut to register comfortable wins at Navan and Naas respectively. The son of No Nay Never has the hallmarks of being a class act and cannot be ignored. However, AFJAN posted a very encouraging time when he won over an extended 5f at Chantilly on his racecourse bow and the French-bred son of Mehmas has the potential to do better on a faster surface. First Legion, Naval Light and Comical Point are notable contenders with place claims.

Tap Runner to view all Odds

  Odds Shortening Odds Lengthening

315	1st	Charles Darwin	8/15 4/6	8/13
15	6th	Afjan	6/1 15/2	15/2
147	3rd	Sandal's Song	12/1 7/1	8/1
163	2nd	Wise Approach	18/1 10/1	11/1
713	10th	First Legion	14/1 10/1	12/1
139	8th	Naval Light	9/2 16/1	14/1
56	5th	Comical Point	25/1 14/1	20/1
416	11th	Clear Force	50/1 25/1	33/1
910	13th	Hey Tru Blue	12/1 25/1	33/1
84	7th	Graft	66/1 33/1	50/1
108	9th	Irish Fighter	200/1 50/1	50/1
1114	12th	Lil Brother		66/1
1511	15th	Star Material		66/1
612	14th	Exclamation	33/1 66/1	80/1
22	4th	Ameeq		125/1
121	n.r.	London Boy		33/1
Betting Percentage				127%
Each-Way Terms

 

3¹⁵

Charles Darwin 3

8/13

1st

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

8/13

8/13 4/5 08:49

1⁵

Afjan 3

15/2

6th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

15/2

13/2 8/1 14:02

14⁷

Sandal's Song 3

8/1

3rd

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

8/1

12/1 9/1 13:14

16³

Wise Approach 3

11/1

2nd

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

11/1

16/1 10/1 14:14

7¹³

First Legion 3

12/1

10th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

12/1

13⁹

Naval Light 3

14/1

8th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

14/1

9/2 14/1 14:02

5⁶

Comical Point 3

20/1

5th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

20/1

12¹

London Boy 3

n.r.

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

4¹⁶

Clear Force 3

33/1

11th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

33/1

9¹⁰

Hey Tru Blue 3

33/1

13th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

33/1

20/1 33/1 14:14

8⁴

Graft 3

50/1

7th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

50/1

10⁸

Irish Fighter 3

50/1

9th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

50/1

11¹⁴

Lil Brother 3

66/1

12th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

66/1

15¹¹

Star Material 3

66/1

15th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

66/1

6¹²

Exclamation 3

80/1

14th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

80/1

2²

Ameeq 3

125/1

4th

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

125/1

O'Brien and Moore have already combined for two wins at this year's Royal Ascot.

Moore will also ride Illinois, the O'Brien favourite for the Ascot Gold Cup (4.20), the feature race today.

The pair have a third favourite later in the day, with Trinity College the joint favourite for the Hampton Court Stakes at 5.35.