Daily Placepots 
/ Jamie Lynch / 14 June 2011 / Leave a Comment 
The Royal Ascot placepot is always worth a crack
"Frankel would probably win the King's Stand, and he'll definitely win the St James's Palace."
Well then, this is a bit different for a Tuesday. Tuesday normally means rubbish racing and Holby City, but today we're treated to some of the best horses in the world and Geordie Shore. If only Lou Reed could rewrite those lyrics...
14:30 - There's a tiny bit of me worried that Hughesy and Peslier may be so busy playing Red Hands (that kids game of patience and timing where flinching was worse than a slap) that Cape Blanco could get away, but all things being equal it should be between the big two. Ignore the purists and vegetarians who'll say it's a race to just savour rather than bet on, as you'll only shout when your money's down, and mine's on Canford Cliffs.
15:05 - My sprinting xenophobia has cost me a packet over the years, but it's too late to change now, so I'm sticking with the mistaken belief that the British bullets are faster than their overseas counterparts. Therefore, it's Kingsgate Native, Group Therapy and Prohibit for me, who've all won at the track previously and will all be suited by the suicidal gallop set by the foreign legion. Rule Britannia.
15:45 - Frankel would probably win the King's Stand, and he'll definitely win the St James's Palace. Even I, who think the sun shines out of Frankel's gloriously powerful backside, don't expect the same outrageous display as he produced in the Guineas, but he'll get the job done with a swagger that will overshadow the Canford Cliffs-Goldikova warm-up act.
16:25 - Things take a sudden turn for the worse with the Coventry: twenty-three two-year-olds and no idea yet how good each one is. Guesswork needed here, but educated guesswork, and Mezmaar is first on the list after looking every inch a Royal Ascot horse when winning so smoothly at Haydock. In support of him, we'll go for Brocklebank for two reasons - Kevin Ryan's juveniles seem to have outboard motors attached, and this colt was so impressive at York that Harry Herbert and friends decided they'd jump on board just in time for Royal Ascot. Last but not least, winners are emerging left, right and centre from the races St Barths has run in, suggesting he's up to this class, and selecting him also means we're covered more or less right across the track, just in case there's any bias at play.
17:00 - This is Royal Ascot, the pinnacle of Flat racing, and therefore we can immediately discount anything that has run over jumps (even though this is effectively a jumps race without the jumps). Zigato is bred to win classics but thinks too much in his races to run fast, so this test looks ideal, as it also is for out-and-out galloper Ashbrittle, who's been crying out for two-and-a-half miles all his life.
17:35 - Shumoos is the biggest certainty to have ever set foot on a racecourse in tomorrow's Queen Mary, and she's represented here by Frederick Engels, who was left for dead by her at Haydock but subsequently won by half the track at Musselburgh. He has, however, got twenty-six immature rivals to negotiate, which may be a bit of a problem, and therefore we'll back him up with outboard-fitted Hamza and lively outsider Caledonian Spring.
Selections
14:30 - 1
15:05 - 3, 5, 9
15:45 - 4
16:25 - 3, 14, 22
17:00 - 11, 12
17:35 - 5, 9, 11
= 54 lines
The highly profitable Timeform Jury give their selections for all Royal Ascot races shown on the BBC on the Timeform TV Focus telephone tipping service. TV Focus now includes Nap & Treble selections. Call from 8am on the day of the races. Click HERE to find out more.
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