Royal Ascot Day Two Preview - 17/06/20

After a superb first day at the Berkshire track we move on to day two and we start the day off with the Silver Royal Hunt Cup Handicap.

Sir Busker for trainer William Knight is set to be ridden by champion jockey Oisin Murphy and the four year old if converting his all weather form should be in the mix.

The gelding is normally a consistent runner with wins on the turf over six and seven furlongs and having started the season with a good win at Newcastle when stepping up to a mile, it looks as if he will improve for that.

Kevin Ryan does not seem to have that many runners heading to royal meeting this week and one of his best chances seems to be Juan Elcano.

The three year old son of Frankel looked a smart two year old winning on heavy ground on his debut and then went on to place in the Group Two Superlative Stakes.

Ryan believes he will be better as a three year old and on his seasonal debut finished a solid fifth in the 2000 Guineas, not finishing to far behind the leaders.

He steps up to 1 mile 2 furlongs today and from the way he ran at Newmarket it suggested he will improve for the extra distance.

The King George V Stakes over 1 mile 4 furlongs sees a decent field of runners go to post and in these big fielded handicaps there is one trainer that flourishes.

Sir Mark Prescott fields Bodyline who looks like a three year old who is very well handicapped and will improve for the step up in trip off the back of his seasonal debut.

After being a smart two year old having won and placed in two out of three of his outings, he went to Yarmouth over 1 mile 2 furlongs and stayed on best of the pack to grab second.

This step up in trip should be what he needs.

One of our best bets of the day for us comes in the Group One Prince Of Wales's Stakes and Japan for Aidan O'Brien will be very tricky to beat.

Although not having a run under his belt this season, the four year old offers the best form from last season heading into the race.

The son of Galileo finished a staying on third in the Epsom Derby and then went on land a hat-trick of wins which included the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, The Grand Prix de Paris and the Juddmonte International.

Having landed back to back Group One wins he went to the Arc at ParisLongchamp and he finished a decent fourth having already had a tiring season.

Starting at the lesser trip is no negative and if fully fit can go very well.

The Class 2 Royal Hunt Cup sees another huge field head to post and Montatham for William Haggas looks a cracking each way bet.

The four year old was very progressive last season as a three year old hitting the frame on all of his outings, also showing his versatility with ground winning in good and soft conditions.

He made a very pleasing start to the season when winning well at Newmarket in a Class 3 handicap and he will be sure to improve for that run.

The five furlong Listed Windsor Castle Stakes sees some young two year old sprinters battle it out and with this race being a minefield in previous seasons it looks even harder this term.

However, with such a big field and extra places on offer we have two runners in the field and the first is the Aidan O'Brien trained Chief Little Hawk.

The son of Air Force Blue made a superb start to his racecourse career when scoring over five furlongs at Navan with plenty in hand.

He should handle the wetter conditions and looks one of the most likely profiles to land this contest.

At a bigger price and put up as an each way selection, Steadman for trainer David O'Meara can run a huge race off the back of his smart debut.

The two year old finished a bold second behind Norfolk Stakes fancy The Lir Jet who has since been bought by Qatar Racing.

That looks solid form with his opponent breaking the track record at Yarmouth that day and if handling the conditions could cause an upset.

The final race of the day on Wednesday is the Copper Horse Handicap over 1 mile 6 furlongs and again with a huge field set to run we have two selections.

The first is the favourite Fujaira Prince for trainer Roger Varian who has made a decent start to the season with his horses.

This six year old has always been consistent, especially in these types of races and was last seen when finishing a strong third at this meeting last season.

He is very lightly raced for his age and having won on good to soft ground in the past should see him handle the surface.

Our other pick at a bigger price is Dubai Horizon for Saeed bin Suroor who has proven he will handle the trip having finished a bright third last time out in Dubai.

He ran in a Group Three at Meydan that looked more competitive than this and going off the same mark could make the six year old dangerous.