ITM Plus FREE Preview - Royal Ascot Review with Rob Dove
Last week, top UK Propunter Rob Dove provided his insights on every race from the Royal Ascot meeting. He has graciously reviewed the performances over the five days that will have an impact on the rest of the American racing calendar.
No winners for the US runners but lets take a look back & see what trips, figures & sectionals they ran ..
Late September maybe wasn’t on the best part of the track but didn’t show much he ran to a beyer of about 52
Golden Pal missed the break by about 4 lengths with Irad apparently not knowing the rules & thinking they had to scratch the one not entering the stalls. He clearly burst himself (was Irad pushing him up too quickly or was it the horse doing it himself) making up the ground & was done after 2 furlongs, an easy throw out run. In contrast Nature strip relaxed nicely & demolished the field in a figure that equates to about 111 beyer sadly very little chance of him going to the Breeders Cup.
Love Reigns broke on terms & was up with the pace , she seemed to relax well enough & ran to the line . The sectionals were even & it looked a very fair race. Weight for age is tricky to equate but her figure equates to about 76 beyer.Grand Oak raced next to Love Reigns fading earlier her beyer was about 60.
Seismic Spirit didn’t show much she broke on terms & was up with the pace but 3 furlongs in she was tired & dropped out.
Slipstream didn’t run as bad as it looks on paper, I don’t think she was given a good ride, she was drawn in a bad position as it went & there was a headwind, the jockey made no attempt to get cover even though she was held up, she finished in front of pre race favourite El Caballo who she was drawn next to & had an equally bad trip. She’s alot better than this.
Spendarella got a nice position early with a strong early fraction & then the race was steadied for 3 furlongs so she was in a nice position turning for home but she ran home well passing 1000 guineas winner Cachet but falling to the easy winner Inspiral who looks a potential star. I think she ran to a beyer of about 93 so a nice progression from her last start. Pizza Bianca also ran a nice race , steadied early left her in a poor position given the mid race slow section, but she had a nice run home in the straight kept in the draft, this was a step forward on her other 3 year old runs & I think she ran to about 90 beyer.
Ruthin went with a strong early pace into a headwind she was soon going backwards, the handicapper was expecting she could run to a 90+ beyer but that seemed way above her paygrade.
Campanelle gave Ward some respite with a fine run here, broke well & up with the Aussie favourite & Naval Crown , this time the Aussie faded but she kept going, right in the mix in a tight finish, she seems to be at her best at Ascot & she ran to about 104 beyer here.
Looking at the Win & you’re in races now…
Baaeed lived up to his reputation winning comfortably in the Queen Anne he ran to 110+ beyer, Real World also put in a great effort, in many other years he would be a champion. Order of Australia ran well on his reappearance right up to his Breeders Cup mile winning form.
State of Rest was given a nice ride here dominating off slow fractions , Bay Bridge got caught a few lengths back turning in & that probably made the difference but State of Rest is still a very solid horse going forward capable of a high level of form & tactically versatile. He has multiple options & I’m not sure they’d want to run him over 12f at the Breeders cup.
The Ridler caused controversy winning the Norfolk while cutting up the field, he probably was the best horse on the day though taking a big step forward on his previous form, the time looks slow (Timeform only giving a speed figure of about 60 beyer).
Finally lets take a look at potential runners that might contest in the 3 year old series at Belmont/ Saratoga..
The Ribblesdale didn’t look the strongest renewal but it was an exciting finish between Magical Lagoon & Sea Silk Road who travelled better but just came up short in the finish. The speed figure comes out about 88 beyer, History 86.
In the King Edward VII Changingoftheguard set a strong pace from the start & was hard ridden from a fair way out by Moore, he seems to lack a high top speed but keeps galloping. He ran a beyer of about 88.
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What does term mean "Cut up the ground" and why was that controversial the Norfolk winner??