Royal Ascot: rest of final day

The main supporting feature at Royal Ascot is the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes at 16.45 CET. This is often a good guide to next month´s King George over the same CD, but to be honest, this looks a weaker edition than normal. Sir Michael Stoute is usually the trainer to follow here, and he has two fancied runners Telescope, with stable jockey Ryan Moore, and Hillstar (Frankie Dettori), third in the King George last year. That is possibly the best form here, but Ryan knows what he is doing and Telescope who has never yet been out of the first two, is the selection, even though he has yet to score at this level. Best outsider here is Ektihaam (Roger Varian/ Paul Hanagan), a strong front-runner who might just last home of this fast ground.

The 6 furlongs Wokingham Stakes at 18.00 is the big betting race but this handicap with 28 runners looks almost impossible. York Glory (Kevin Ryan/ Jamie Spencer) won it last year and is not out of it off 9 lbs more, but we shall stick to horses drawn near the stands rail and make Absolutely So (Andrew Balding/ Oisin Murphy, drawn 24), Seeking Magic (Clive Cox/ Ryan Tate, 30) and Rocky Ground (Varian/ Dettori, 29) our three against the field.
The Queen Alexandra Stakes that ends the meeting at 18.35 is the longest flat race in the British calendar and as usual has attracted the attention of several N.H. Trainers. Wllie Mullins, Nicky Henderson and Alan King all have fancied runners, and we like Mullins´ runner Pique Sous, especially as the trainer has booked Ryan Moore, who won this for him on Simenon a couple of years ago. We also like another Irish runner El Salvador (Aidan and Joseph O´Brien), who is rather inconsistent but finished 6th in the Gold Cup last year - form that is surely good enough for this.

This being a Saturday, there is plenty more fracing and our Scottish correspondent tells us to look out for two runners at Ayr - Norse Blues (David Barron/ Jason Hart) at 15.55 and One Pekan (Varian/ Freddie Tylicki) at 16.35.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Dick Whittington - Toscanini - Crown The Kitten
2. Race: Arab Spring - Groundbreaking - Hamelin
3. Race: Telescope - Hillstar - Eye Of The Storm
4. Race: Slade Power - Aljamaaheer - Due Diligence
5. Race: Ninjago - Rocky Ground - Seeking Magic
6. Race: Tiger Cliff - El Salvador - Brass Ring