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- Royal Ascot Update: Our antepost selections revealed
Royal Ascot Update: Our antepost selections revealed
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© Healy Racing Photos
Royal Ascot is now less than a week away, with the confirmations now starting to trickle through for the jewel in the summer crown on the Flat.
Five days of high-quality racing await at Royal Ascot, a meeting boasting unmatched pageantry, style and top-class racing with global appeal.
We've picked out some ante-post selections for Royal Ascot as the countdown to next week's showpiece enters the final furlong.
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Storm Boy — King Charles III Stakes
Storm Boy cost a reported $50million in 2024 as Coolmore acquired the Aussie sprinter. The speedy son of Justify won five times in Australia for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, with his best performance coming in the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes at Rosehill.
He made his Irish debut last month in the Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh and went off the 6/4 favourite before fading late on to finish last of nine runners.
Having been shipped from the other side of the world, his new trainer was at pains afterwards to suggest there is no call for panic.
"He had never been galloped or worked, but we had to run him to find out what else we had to work on between now and Ascot," O'Brien said.
"We learned that we have a good bit to work on, but I was very happy to do that."
Aussie import Starspangledbanner landed the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on only his second start for O'Brien in 2010 and Storm Boy is around a 16/1 poke now for the King Charles III Stakes having eased significantly in the betting following his debut on Irish soil. There could be a major jolt of improvement forthcoming.
© Healy Racing Photos
3.405f. 20 Declared.
King Charles III Stakes (Group 1) (Class 1 ) of £725,750.00 3-y-o plus
- Formscan
- Race Info
1st - €411,573.00 2nd - €156,036.00 3rd - €78,091.00 4th - €38,900.00 5th - €19,523.00 6th - €9,798.00 Going - Good to Firm (Good in places).
Formscan - Asfoora beat Regional (second) when taking this contest last year with Believing back in fourth. The latter has improved subsequently and arrives on the back of a victory in the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan in April. George Boughey's mare will be hard to keep out of the frame, but NIGHT RAIDER also drops back to the minimum trip with strong claims. The son of Dark Angel has bags of early pace and made all to win a Listed contest over 6f at Newcastle last term. A respectable third in the 1895 Duke Of York on his reappearance, this stiff 5f will suit the four-year-old. The Temple Stakes winner Mgheera is another to consider .
Odds Shortening 
Odds Lengthening | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
141 | 11th | Believing | 4/1  3/1 | 3/1 |
1210 | 5th | Asfoora | 7/2 | |
717 | 3rd | Regional | 17/2 | |
67 | 12th | Night Raider | 9/2  8/1 | 10/1 |
116 | 1st | American Affair | 12/1 | |
85 | 14th | Rumstar | 18/1 11/1 | 12/1 |
914 | 4th | Starlust | 16/1 | |
2323 | 13th | West Acre | 12/1 18/1 | 18/1 |
36 | 10th | Jasour | 16/1 22/1 | 22/1 |
1515 | 2nd | Frost At Dawn | 66/1 25/1 | 28/1 |
| 209 | 16th | Aesterius | 33/1 | |
2219 | 17th | Tropical Storm | 40/1 | |
1111 | 7th | Washington Heights | 66/1 33/1 | 40/1 |
43 | 5th | Kerdos | 50/1 | |
134 | 9th | Balmoral Lady | 50/1 | |
2122 | 15th | Estepona | 100/1 33/1 | 66/1 |
1920 | 19th | Prime Art | 66/1 | |
1021 | 18th | Twilight Calls | 80/1 | |
512 | 20th | Manaccan | 40/1 100/1 | 80/1 |
| 1718 | 8th | Monteille | 150/1 | |
168 | w.d. | Mgheera | 10/1 7/1 | 15/2 |
22 | n.r. | Bucanero Fuerte | 28/1 | |
1813 | n.r. | No Half Measures | 66/1 | |
| Betting Percentage | 119% | |||
| Each-Way Terms | 4 1/5 | |||
3/1
Outfielder — Norfolk Stakes
Wesley Ward is no stranger to Royal Ascot success. Since becoming the first American to score at the summer showpiece in 2009, Ward has gone on to win a further 11 times at the Royal meeting. Frustratingly, he hasn't been able to add to that tally since 2021.
Outfielder looks set to be Ward's standout contender in 2025. The son of Speightstown will sport the colours of Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing and was an impressive winner at Churchill Downs on his racecourse bow, powering six-and-a-quarter-lengths clear of his rivals.
That was over the minimum trip and Ward says he won't be tempted to step up to 6f at Royal Ascot, preferring instead to target a third Norfolk Stakes win after No Nay Never (2013) and Shang Shang Shang (2018) bagged this prize for him.
Ward isn't noted for shying away when it comes to assessing his hopes and he believes "it will take a very good horse to beat" Outfielder in the day three juvenile sprint.
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.
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 | 10/1 |
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 | 16/1 |
56 | 5th | Comical Point | 25/1 14/1 | 25/1 |
910 | 13th | Hey Tru Blue | 12/1 25/1 | 40/1 |
416 | 11th | Clear Force | 50/1 25/1 | 40/1 |
84 | 7th | Graft | 66/1 33/1 | 50/1 |
108 | 9th | Irish Fighter | 200/1 50/1 | 66/1 |
1114 | 12th | Lil Brother | 66/1 | |
1511 | 15th | Star Material | 80/1 | |
22 | 4th | Ameeq | 100/1 | |
612 | 14th | Exclamation | 33/1 66/1 | 125/1 |
121 | n.r. | London Boy | 33/1 | |
| Betting Percentage | 121% | |||
| Each-Way Terms | 3 1/5 | |||
Jarraaf — Wokingham Stakes
Looking ahead to the final afternoon of the meeting and the Wokingham Stakes will be a typically tough handicap puzzle to solve over six-furlongs, with some experienced campaigners as well as some improving sprinters expected to make the field.
The Owen Burrows-trained Jarraaf is an eye-catcher. The four-year-old Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum-owned son of Zoustar twice won over the 6f trip at Ascot last summer, latterly off a mark 95 on the Shergar Cup card in August. Both of those course and distance wins were impressive and clear cut.
In October, he shed his perfect Ascot record but enhanced his reputation when finishing second behind Apollo One in the Group 3 Bengough Stakes on soft ground.
His seasonal comeback saw him beaten a length in the Listed Cathedral Stakes at Salisbury in May and a return to Ascot in handicap company could provoke a career-best effort.
5.006f. 28 Declared.
Wokingham Stakes (Heritage Handicap) (Class 2 ) of £175,000.00 3-y-o plus
- Formscan
- Race Info
1st - €90,195.00 2nd - €42,298.00 3rd - €21,158.00 4th - €10,570.00 5th - €5,285.00 6th - €2,642.00 Going - Good to Firm.
Formscan - JARRAAF, a previous course-and-distance winner, failed to land the odds on his return in Listed company at Salisbury last month, but he could prove better with that outing under his belt and his stable's runners are going well at present. The hat-trick seeking More Thunder, Aramram and Woodhay Wonder are all closely matched and are shortlisted, while Get It impressed in scoring over track and trip last time and cannot be left out of calculations.
Odds Shortening Odds Lengthening | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
2123 | 2nd | More Thunder | 10/3 | |
512 | 12th | Jarraaf | 5/1 | |
1819 | 6th | Aramram | 11/2 | |
2314 | 5th | Completely Random | 8/1 | |
327 | 13th | Zoum Zoum | 11/1 | |
| 722 | 9th | Purosangue | 12/1 | |
169 | 15th | Cover Up | 16/1 | |
2420 | 19th | Woodhay Wonder | 16/1 | |
104 | 3rd | Ten Pounds | 20/1 | |
1526 | 17th | Orazio | 22/1 | |
227 | 14th | Golden Mind | 25/1 | |
| 93 | 25th | Shartash | 25/1 | |
1113 | 1st | Get It | 25/1 | |
196 | 27th | We Never Stop | 25/1 | |
271 | 22nd | Saint Lawrence | 25/1 | |
2929 | 4th | Holkham Bay | 25/1 | |
117 | 7th | Apollo One | 33/1 | |
624 | 8th | Korker | 33/1 | |
2610 | 18th | Germanic | 33/1 | |
45 | 16th | City House | 33/1 | |
228 | 23rd | Valiant Force | 33/1 | |
172 | 28th | Vadream | 40/1 | |
| 1316 | 11th | Twilight Calls | 50/1 | |
| 2811 | 10th | Jumby | 66/1 | |
2018 | 21st | Roman Dragon | 80/1 | |
1425 | 24th | Desert Cop | 80/1 | |
2531 | 20th | Noble Truth | 100/1 | |
1221 | 26th | Game Run | 100/1 | |
| 815 | n.r. | Symbol Of Honour | 11/2 | |
| Betting Percentage | 151% | |||
| Each-Way Terms | 6 1/5 | |||
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