Racing Betting Tips: Desert to reach for the sky and cause Gold Cup shock
CAST your mind back 12 months and you will remember one of the great Royal Ascot finishes.
The brave and hugely popular Big Orange answered jockey James Doyles every call as he battled all the way to the line to see off Order Of St George and Ryan Moores late flourish.
It was a brilliant Ascot Gold Cup and lets hope we are blessed with another this afternoon at 4.20pm.
ORDER OF ST GEORGE is the obvious place to start, as he probably should have won last years race to follow up on his comfortable success in 2016.
Hes a top class stayer who was good enough and quick enough to finish third and fourth in the last two editions of the Prix de lArc de Triomphe.
The six-year-old has returned in top form this season with a win in the Vintage Crop Stakes and then a third straight victory in the Saval Beg Stakes.
Theres no doubt hes the one they all have to beat at 7/4 with Coral, but a slight worry is the quick ground.
Hed be a more confident selection at that price on softer ground, where the likely slower pace of the race would allow him to travel more comfortably.
According to the betting, this is one of the big matches of the week, with STRADIVARIUS the young pretender to his crown at a general 9/4.
John Gosden made a blistering start to the meeting on Tuesday with a treble and this progressive four-year-old will bid to give him his first ever win in the Gold Cup.
The son of Sea The Stars won the Queens Vase at this meeting 12 months ago before becoming the first three-year-old in 27 years to land the Goodwood Cup.
He then ran respectably to be third to Capri in the St Leger before ending his season with another third behind Order Of St George, beaten just a length, in the Long Distance Cup.
In fairness, the ground was a little soft for him on both of those occasions and he showed his liking for a fast surface when impressively winning the Yorkshire Cup on his reappearance last month.
That was a very good performance after a 209-day break and his Gold Cup odds plummeted as soon as he crossed the line.
The big question is stamina – we simply dont know if he will stay this marathon 2m4f trip as he will be running half a mile further than he ever has done before.
The pace of the race will be vital. We saw in the Ascot Stakes on Tuesday that if they crawl it gives the speedier horses the chance to get home.
However, Im sure the others will want to make this a test, which may just find out Stradivarius.
Another learning from Tuesday is that sometimes a supposed match doesnt materialise.
The market said it was between Lady Aurelia and Battaash in the Kings Stand Stakes, yet it was William Buick and Blue Point who came away with the prize.
Im hoping there will be a turn-up in this race because Im convinced DESERT SKYLINE has been underestimated by the bookies at a general 12/1.
Stamina isnt a problem for this son of Tamayuz – the only time he has raced further than 2m he won the Doncaster Cup.
Now, admittedly he had huge weight allowances that day, but it was still a very good performance and you get the feeling the plan has always been the Gold Cup.
He likes quick ground and ran a really promising race last time to be second to Stradivarius in the Yorkshire Cup when conceding a 3lb penalty.
In a race which has a nice each-way shape to it, he looks cracking value.
Torcedor was a good winner of the Sagaro Stakes here last month, with Desert Skyline behind him, but his best form has come on a softer surface.
The same concerns apply to Vazirabad who, although mightily consistent, has never raced on ground quicker than good and is making his first visit to Ascot.
Conditions have come right for old-boy Sheikhzayedroad, but he cant be improving at nine years of age.
Max Dynamite needs to find some improvement, while this looks a bridge too far for outsiders Mount Moriah and Scotland.
BILL ESDAILES ASCOT GOLD CUP 1-2-3
- Desert Skyline
- Order Of St George
- Stradivarius
[contf]
[contfnew]
CityAM
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
