Royal Ascot 2024 really kicked off many months ago here at Favourbrook when we were getting our formalwear and waistcoat collections ready, but our excitement for next week really hit home as we held our annual preview event drinks on Thursday. Hosted by Clare Balding and her champion trainer brother Andrew of Parkhouse Stables, Kingsclere, guests were treated to insight and insider tips, alongside a gin bar from De Vere Spirits and wine from London Cru.
“Obviously take everything we say with a massive sip of De Vere’s Finest Gin,” Clare Balding teased before the pair shared their preferred runners and riders for the week. Now, for those of you who were unable to attend or those of you struggling to decipher the night’s scribbled wisdom, we have decided to share a race-by-race tipster sheet. Before we do so, our informed host, dressed in our Carnaby Coat Navy Faust, uttered the following reminder that bears repeating here; “No matter who you back or who you’re with at Royal Ascot, what we can guarantee is that the best dressed people will be wearing Favourbrook.”
But you knew that already. Anyway, onto the gravy…
Tuesday 18th June
Clare Balding: “For the racing purists, it’s all about Tuesday and it starts with an absolute bang with the Queen Anne Stakes. While the favourite Inspiral is trained by the Gosdens, Andrew is particularly interested in a horse called Big Rock.”
Andrew Balding: “This horse achieved massive things last year, but the owner decided the trainer hadn’t done enough, so moved him and it started this year on a really low note, but it’s a very talented horse. He could bounce back. There’s another French horse in this race called Facteur Cheval. He was very unlucky last year and he could be a decent bet this year against the favourites.”
2:30 PM
The Queen Anne Stakes (Group 1)
Big Rock and Facteur Cheval
3:05 PM
The Coventry Stakes (Group 2)
Cool Hooth Luke
3:45 PM
The King Charles III Stakes (Group 1)
Big Evs
4:25 PM
The St James Palace Stakes (Group 1)
Henry Longfellow and Notable Speech
Wednesday 19th June
AB: “This isn't all about me, but the next two races are. We have a really good chance in the Queen Mary with Kassaya, who cost a million pounds as a foal, and is running well. Then, on the other end of the spectrum is a horse called Sayedaty Sadaty, who we paid twenty thousand for and he’ll probably start favourite because he has a great chance [in the Queen’s Vase].”
2:30 PM
The Queen Mary Stakes (Group 2)
Kassaya
3:05 PM
The Queen’s Vase (Group 2)
Sayedaty Sadaty
3:45 PM
The Duke of Cambridge Stakes (Group 2)
Running Lion
4:25 PM
The Prince of Wales’s Stakes (Group 1)
Auguste Rodin
5:05 PM
The Royal Hunt Cup (Heritage Handicap)
Real Gain, Awaal, Coeur d'Or
Thursday 20th June
CB: “Out of interest, if you were to book one jockey, specifically for a big race at Royal Ascot and Oisin Murphy wasn’t available, who would you go for?"
AB: “Ryan Moore every time! Onto the Ribblesdale Stakes, hopefully one of my best chances is Kalpana and I don’t think they’ve priced this up yet. She’s been trained with this race specifically in mind, that’s Kalpana with a K.”
CB: “Then we come to the Gold Cup.”
AB: “…And Coltrane with a C!”
CB: “We talked him up last year with good reason and he ran a great race.”
AC: “He looked like winning everywhere bar the last fifty yards. He’s back again, and while he’s seven years old, which in human years is quite old, he won his prep race again this year. He’s coming in with a great chance to finish in the first three.”
2:30PM
The Norfolk Stakes (Group 2)
Godolphin
3:45 PM
The Ribblesdale Stakes ((Group 2)
Kalpana
4:25 PM
The Ascot Gold Cup (Group 1)
Coltrane
Friday 21st June
AB: “Here’s your 50/1 or 40/1 shot. As you can imagine, when you train you can become slightly obsessed by the one horse and See The Fire is by far the best horse I've got in the yard, or so I thought until he ran terribly. But City of Troy who won the Derby ran exactly the same and, while I’m not Aidan O’Brien, I’m hoping for a similar reincarnation. We think the world of her and she might just be a fly in the ointment for the big ones.”
2:30 PM
The Albany Stakes (Group 3)
Ballydoyle
3:45 PM
The Coronation Stakes (Group 1)
See The Fire
Saturday 22nd June
CB: “On Saturday, the Hardwicke is always a cracking race, often with some real hardened warriors.”
AB: “You can mention this in your Trooping the Colour commentary, because this is the King and Queen’s best chance of winner in Desert Hero, who has been specifically prepped for this race. He won at Royal Ascot last year, winning the King George V Handicap and he's a very decent horse.”
CB: “I think the reception that the King and Queen received at Epsom on Oaks Day really touched them. Public appearances that aren't official appearances are fairly rare, certainly for the King at the moment and with good reason.”
AB: “They enjoyed Royal Ascot so much last year that they came every day.”
3:05 PM
The Hardwicke Stakes (Group 2)
Desert Hero
3:45 PM
The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (Group 1)
Kinross
5:05 PM
The Wokingham Stakes (Heritage Handicap)
Fivethousandtoone
AB: "The Wokingham Stakes is very draw dependent and you'll get clues through the week and particularly that day because it's a later race so look out for signs where the biases might be. When you see the race card, you'll see where each horse is drawn in brackets, so if you see a clue of a significant bias, it might be worth doing a trifecta or exacta to horses drawn to that side."
CB: "You can do a combination of trifecta and exacta. This is what we mean by exotic bets"
AB: "It's a lottery essentially. At Royal Ascot, far side is a low draw and high draw is stand side. It's just little patters and they do change through the week."
