Ascot Gold Cup 4:20

I’ve totally convinced myself that the favourite is a mad price and has to be avoided on this ground. That said my main selection here is generally thought of as a soft ground horse, but I beg to differ. Tac De Boistron’s best ever performance was on good ground in Longchamp where he really picked up well on good ground and beat a decent field easily at the end of 2013. He has been lightly raced since but if he can cope with this ground he is well overlooked at a very big looking 16/1. Too many of the young horses might have too little between them, and have yet to prove they are up to this standard. I’m also going to go with Simenon at a decent looking 12/1 as he is proven here in this race and I liked the look of his return after a long layoff and immediately thought none of the ones that beat him that day could finished ahead of him here.

2 Points win Tac De Boistron 16/1 Generally

1 Point win Simenon 12/1 Generally

Ascot 3:05

Cape Clear Island looks easily the value in this race. He ran well in the French Derby. He has been deserted by Ryan Moore, but this group 3 should with his level. 14/1 looks big with all the stables runners going well this week.

1 Point win 14/1 Generally

5:00 Ascot

I’m not a fan at all of these 3yo handicaps, but I had to have a look and I saw one piece of form that stands out in comparison to mark. Jargon won a couple of fairly harmless maidens and then ran poorly in a nursery in Doncaster, but after than ran a great race in France when 2nd to a very decent horse. That race has worked out really well and a reproduction of that of this mark might give him a tiny chance here. We have to forget about his first run this year 2 weeks ago, when he ran out of steam. Hopefully he can come on for that run and is hard to resist at 100/1. I’m also going with a small bet on Rotherwick, who had to try to give weight to Jack Hobbs and Stravagante on his first run this year, and ended splitting them which is obviously pretty decent. There are bits of his 2yo form as well that indicate that on his day he can be better than this mark. 25/1 is bigger than I expected him to be.

½ Point EW Jargon 100/1 5 Places Various

1 Point win Rotherwick 25/1