Racing Tips: In-depth look at the big Royal Ascot handicaps

5.00 Britannia Stakes

The Britannia Stakes is run over the same course and distance as the Royal Hunt Cup but it is restricted to three-year-olds. The winner of the Royal Hunt Cup came from stall 7, while the runner-up broke from 22, though it was the high numbers who dominated on the whole in a race where they finished strung out.

How will the race be run?

The contenders

The horse which tops my shortlist is the Harry Eustace-trained Docklands, who bumped into the smart Cicero’s Gift on his return at Wolverhampton in March before completing a simple task at Kempton on his next start.

It was his performance over course and distance last month which marks Docklands out as an exciting prospect, though, the manner in which he dismissed some useful types marking him out as a potentially smart colt.

He made a mockery of an opening mark of 80, looming up around two furlongs out and soon putting the race to bed when produced to lead entering the final furlong, stretching six and a half lengths clear in impressive fashion and also recording an excellent timefigure. His draw in stall 18 should be stop on as there is pace around him and he strikes as the type that will relish this big-field scenario, so he makes plenty of appeal despite now being 14 lb higher in the weights.

Furthermore, Harry Eustace and Hayley Turner are two from two when teaming up at Ascot – they also won at Royal Ascot last year with Latin Lover – and it will be a big surprise if Docklands is still as big as 12/1 come Wednesday afternoon.

Quantum Impact is the market leader at the time of writing following his win at York last time and he is unexposed at this trip. He actually hasn’t gone as far as a mile as yet, but he wasn’t stopping over an extended seven furlongs at York last time, and he has plenty of stamina on the dam’s side of his pedigree.

However, he looks short enough for a race of this nature, and New Endeavour appeals more at around 16/1. He caught the eye on his reappearance over seven furlongs at York and landed good support when scoring with plenty in hand over the same trip at Kempton last time, proving in a different league to his rivals as he quickened clear in the final furlong.

A slight concern is that both of his wins so far have come on the all-weather at Kempton, but the straight course at Ascot often lends itself well to horses who have a good record on an artificial surface, and he is definitely a horse to keep on the right side. Roger Varian’s runners are also performing well so far this week and he shouldn’t be far away.

John & Thady Gosden went agonisingly close to winning the Britannia 12 months ago with Saga and Theoryofeverything almost certainly hasn’t shown what he’s capable of as yet.

He is bred in the purple – out of multiple Group 1 winner Persuasive – and he looked a colt right out of the top drawer when making a winning debut in heavy ground at Doncaster in April, moving through the race with consummate ease and barely having to come of the bridle.

Clearly that impressed connections too as he ran in the Greenham at Newbury just 20 days later and finished a creditable third. It is probably best to put a line through his latest start on handicap debut at Chester, as the track probably didn’t suit and he was forced wide entering the straight.

It is worth noting that race was also his third relatively quick start, all of which came on heavy ground, so the fact he has been freshened up since bodes well, and the switch to a sounder surface may also bring about further improvement. It is hard to think that he won’t develop into a horse better than his current mark of 94 and he is also one to note at a big price.

Conclusion & selection

This is as competitive as it gets for three-year-old handicappers and the winner will need to be quite a bit ahead of their mark. The most obvious one has to be Docklands, who is now much higher in the weights, but created an excellent impression over course and distance, and should have much, much more to offer. A strong-travelling type who came from off the pace last time, this test should be right up his street and he it will be no surprise if he starts favourite. However, at a price, I expect Theoryofeverything to run a much better race than his odds suggest.

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