Ascot best bet: Pyledriver has quality to hammer illustrious King George rivals
A top-class field lines up for one of Ascot’s most prestigious races, and the word on the Tipstrr street is that the market leaders might not have things all their own way.
2023-07-29Ascot best bet: Pyledriver has quality to hammer illustrious King George rivals
15:40 Ascot: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes (1 mile 4 furlongs)
No less than seven of the runners here are already winners at the highest level, so we should be in for a thrilling race over a mile and a half.
Auguste Rodin (Epsom and Irish Derby winner), Emily Upjohn (Coronation Cup) and King Of Steel (Edward VII Stakes) all arrive boasting impressive form, and it's not surprising to see them jostling for position at 4/1 or shorter at the top of the betting.
Such strength at the top of the market suggests better value in real terms might be found elsewhere, and as a mid-market each-way prospect, it is Pyledriver who has attracted most support within the Tipstrr community.
This six-year-old concluded his 2022 campaign by winning this very renewal by almost three lengths a year ago, beating the opposing Westover and Emily Upjohn by a dozen or more lengths.
At Royal Ascot, he picked up where he left off after a 10-month break, with regular jockey PJ McDonald pushing him out to ease clear again with plenty in hand.
He took a while to settle in that third win over this course and distance, and while Saturday's rivals present a step up in quality opposition, the name Pyledriver could well be on the ITV commentators' lips in the final stages.
- Tip advised by FlyingBoltOriginalOne on Tipstrr
Shopping around could find you a bookie paying out on four places, which in a 10-horse race offers enhanced each-way options should any of the fancied protagonists falter.
For anyone looking for a complete outsider, then right at the bottom of the market, Point Lonsdale clearly has some high-class performers to negotiate, but his own record also makes impressive reading,
A four-time winner in his debut season, he was only aired once in 2022 before hitting ground running with back-to-back successes at the Curragh and Chester in the spring.
A long-distant third behind Emily Upjohn in the Coronation Cup at the Epsom Derby meeting suggests he is likely to be out of his depth at this level, but his high odds look irresistible for a cautious each-way play.
