ROYAL ASCOT FRIDAY: “At 7/1, she looks a little bit underrated and it won’t be a surprise if she can hit the frame at the very least.”

Another day at Royal Ascot, another feature race where it seems punters will have to be with or against an Aidan O’Brien-trained, Ryan Moore-ridden favourite. This time it’s Opera Singer in the Coronation Stakes, a 7/4 chance with AK Bets at the time of writing.

There is lots to like about her – namely a high class juvenile season and a highly encouraging comeback effort when third to Fallen Angel. She doesn’t face that rival here but she does face the one-two-three from the Newmarket 1000 Guineas in Elmlaka, Porta Fortuna and Ramatuelle. 

It is an intriguing contest and one I’ve played into. The other Group 1 on the card is the Commonwealth Cup, which is no less intriguing but a contest I’m happy to swerve as a betting medium for now.

Inisherin is favourite but if you were in anyway a casual racing fan, a Guineas reject of sorts, though that may be harsh considering he finished fifth over the mile, but he looked all over a sprinter when quickening up smartly to land the Group 2 Sandy Lane by nearly four lengths. Kevin Ryan’s gelding will have plenty of supporters but looks tightly priced at 9/4.

The overall card is another good one from a betting perspective, with the two Group 1s backed up by another juvenile opener, an open looking Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes and three highly competitive handicaps. I have three bets on the card.

3:45 Royal Ascot – Porta Fortuna

As mentioned, Opera Singer is favourite here but on this year’s form, you could legitimately question whether she deserves to top this market. Her supporters will likely point to the starkly low expectations the market and her trainer had for her comeback effort at the Curragh, which was viewed as a huge run in spite of fitness concerns. It’s highly likely she steps forward now but weighing up that improvement against the level of the Newmarket form is tricky and there is enough doubt about it to suggest 9/4 is a little short. 

Speaking of tricky, trying to decipher the 1000 Guineas is a bit of a puzzle. Of the one-two-three, the third Ramatuelle, was the story of the race, with her jockey Aurelien Lemaitre inexplicably sending her forward well ahead of schedule on the Rowley Mile. The was plenty said for the winner Elmlaka as well, considering where she came from, and I wonder is Porta Fortuna, just a little underrated as a result.

She really impressed me with the way she travelled through the race from her midfield position, and more pertinently, with the way she kept to her task inside the final furlong when trying to keep tabs with the more patiently-ridden winner. The big question going into the race was whether she could stay a truly run mile and she proved without doubt she does. Now, she gets a chance to use her main strength of speed, with the addition of a bend here a potentially significant aid. 

She made her name at this meeting last season when winning the Albany Stakes before taking the Group 1 Cheveley Park later in the season and only just failing to land the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. That latter effort was her seventh run in a busy campaign and while she will need to show it again this term in order to be categorical about her training on, her run at Newmarket was a big positive in this regard.

At 7/1, she looks a little big underrated, and it won’t be a surprise if she can hit the frame at the very least.

Back Porta Fortuna e/w @ 13/2 in 3.45 Royal Ascot

4.25 Royal Ascot – Ethical Diamond

Willie Mullins had his Copper Horse Handicap winner Belloccio in this Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap and I wonder how tempted he’d have been to run him under a penalty, given the six-year-old would likely have been well in at the weights under a penalty.

As it has transpired the dual champion jumps trainer is happy to rely on Ethical Diamond, who before a race was run this week, looked one of the most attractively handicapped horses over the five days.

The four-year-old son of Awtaad was touted as a Triumph Hurdle horse earlier this year, and was allowed to make his debut in the usually hot juvenile maiden hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas won by some smart juvenile hurdlers down the years, but he was something of a slow learner over hurdles and ran out of time to make a real impact in the division. 

Part of the hype for him was in the way he shaped in three flat maidens for previous trainer Michael O’Meara and off the back of those three wins, he handily got himself a flat mark of 89, which he only just failed to win off when returning to the level last month at Leopardstown. The horse that beat him, Saturn, is one I really like, and he duly won a premier handicap on his next start so that looks really strong form. 

Ethical Diamond is up 5lb to 94 now, but he has just four runs to his name on the flat, and only one of those came for Mullins, so he has loads of scope and while 3/1 in a competitive Royal Ascot handicap will be scoffed at by some, it’s hard to see him going off much higher. The champion trainer’s record at this meeting is sensational given the relatively small amount of horses he has run and a big reason for that is his pinpoint selection of which of his hurdlers to switch back to the flat. This could be another smart one for him.

Back Ethical Diamond win @ 3/1 in the 16:25 Royal Ascot 

5.05 Royal Ascot – Asian Daze

Asian Daze has already netted her (previous) owners a win this week by realising £200,000 at the Royal Ascot Sale on Monday evening and she bids to give her new Australian connections a quick return on that fee by scoring in the Sandringham Stakes Handicap. Her current odds of 25/1 underestimate her to do so.

Running for Johnny Murtagh in Ireland, she has progressed well this season, winning smartly on her seasonal return at the Curragh, before looking a filly to follow when meeting plenty of trouble on the inside rail when staying on to finish third to Zaynab at the same track. 

Her latest start was another step forward when she was third to Everlasting in a listed contest at Navan, and it was particularly pleasing how she re-rallied in that contest, depicting a really fine attitude that would have been endearing to her new trainers – Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. Everlasting is a much shorter price at 12/1 for this contest but there was only a length between the pair at Navan, and there is no reason it won’t be a close run thing again.

Back Asian Daze e/w @ 25/1 in the 5.05 Royal Ascot