Rest of Royal Ascot: day four

The remaining 5 races today at Royal Ascot are also high class and very competitive, with Aidan O´Brien, already successful in two of the top races with Mastercraftsman and Yeats, fielding a strong team; as stable jockey Johnny Murtagh is now suspended for today and tomorrow, several different jockeys partner his runners. The opening Albany Stakes at 15.30 CET (2yo fillies, 6 furlongs) promises to be a real thriller with 22 runners. Lillie Langtry (O´Brien/ Seamus Heffernan) is regarded by many Irish racegoers as their banker of the week, but the U.S. -trained Aegean (Wesley Ward/ John Velazquez) is equally strongly fancied, after the victories of two of his stablemates at this meeting. This one was always seen as the stable´s main hope here.

The King Edward VII Stakes over 1 1/2 miles for 3yo´s at 16.05 sees some Derby failures at the start- Debussy (John Gosden/ Jimmy Fortune),8th, Black Bear Island (O´Brien/Colm O´Donoghue),10th, and Montaff (Mick Channon/ Darryll Holland), last of 12. As the Derby was only 13 days ago, we prefer to look at other form-lines and are mainly interested in Aqwaal (Ed Dunlop/ Richard Hills) and South Easter (William Haggas/ Neil Callan).
The Queen´s Vase over 2 miles for 3yo´s at 17.55 is also a very tricky event, especially as none of the 15 runners has ever run beyond 12 furlongs so far. Mastery (Saeed bin Suroor/ Frankie Dettori) won the Italian Derby, but that was a substandard event and he is penalised 5 lbs which maks it tough. O´Brien´s two runners Stately Home (Colm O´Donoghue) and Yankee Doodle (Ryan Moore) deserve respect, as do Dhushan (Michael Jarvis/ Philip Robinson) and Holberg (Mark Johnston/ Joe Fanning), who look as if they will stay this distance.

The two handicaps offer the usual puzzle. Our short list for the 10 furlongs race at 17.20 comprises Halicarnassus, Kandidate and Perfect Stride, and for the 7 furlongs race at 18.30 Giganticus, Swift Gift and Tartan Gigha, but almost anything is possible here.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Aegean - Lillie Langtry - She`S A Character
2. Race: Black Bear Island - Native Ruler - South Easter
3. Race: Ghanaati - Elusive Wave - Rainbow View
4. Race: Moonquake - Stone Of Scone - Perfect Stride
5. Race: Dhushan - Stately Home - Mastery
6. Race: Mister Hardy - Swift Gift - Redford