Royal Ascot 2023 Day 1 Betting Tips, Prediction, Odds, NAP
Royal Ascot Day 1 Betting Tips
4:20 Ascot
Royal Scotsman – 1pt Each Way – 10/1 (4 places)
singleSelection
My first selection is Royal Scotsman in the St James’s Palace Stakes.
This horse is the forgotten horse in this race and he does not deserve to be a double figure price.
I put Royal Scotsman up to win the 2,000 Guineas and he ended up finishing 3 behind Chaldean and Hi Royal. However, everything went wrong for him that day, so he ran exceptionally well to finish 3. He could have done without the rain and it came down at Newmarket, leaving the ground Soft. He had to make his run away from the front two, he refused to settle and he also got a bump after just 2f. Whilst the rain has come down this morning, hopefully it will still be more like Good rather than Soft today.
He was extremely impressive when winning the Richmond Stakes last year, breaking the Juvenile course record in the process to show he has plenty of speed. He underperformed in the Gimcrack next time out but his trainers confirmed he scoped badly after that and his bloods were also off, so you can draw a line through that. He bounced back to form with a career best when upped in trip to 7f in the Dewhurst where he just failed in to reign in Chaldean, going down by a head. Obviously Chaldean went on to win the 2000 Guineas and is subsequently favourite here, so there is nothing wrong with that.
Royal Scotsman flopped when sent off favourite for the Irish 2000 Guineas but he was said to have come back with a bruised foot after that race, so I’m happy to forgive that. If he did not run there, he would be a fraction of his current price.
It is worth remembering that he was sired by Gleneagles who won both the UK & Irish 2000 Guineas and this race in 2015, so as well has having the form for this, he also has the pedigree.
This horse is due some luck after a bad scope, a hard luck story, a bruised foot etc. On his day, he is right up there with the best of these and I cannot let him go unbacked at a double figure price. The difference in price between Chaldean and Royal Scotsman is mental on their linked form. The bookies may regret that decision…
5:00 Ascot & 6:10 Ascot
Bring On The Night & Vauban – 1pt Each Way Double – 6.14/1 (Bet365, 6 places and 5 places)
singleSelection
singleSelection
My only other selection today is the Mullins double which currently pays 6.14/1.
The case is pretty simple – Both horses have been targeted at this and both look well handicapped. If they can both win, we get a return of 8.91pts and if they both place, we get 1.785pts i.e. pretty much breakeven.
Firstly, we have Bring On The Night who chased home Coltrane in this race last year. They raced off level weights that day when Coltrane was rated 98 and Bring On The Night was rated 93, with Coltrane just proving to be the better horse at the finish. Coltrane has since gone on to win a Listed race at Sandown, a Group 2 at Doncaster and a Group 3 at Ascot, seeing his rating rise to 117 and now finds himself favourite for the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup on Thursday. Willie subsequently knows this fella is well handicapped off 97 and has wisely saved his mark for another crack at this race. I think he has an outstanding chance and I’d be shocked if he wasn’t in the first six.
Next up we have Vauban in the Copper Horse Handicap. They have talked about racing this horse on the flat for a long time and now they are finally unleashing him and where better than Royal Ascot. This lad won a Listed race over 1m4f on Soft ground over in France before he moved to Willie Mullins. He was far too good over hurdles as a Juvenile winning three Grade 1s. I expected him to progress on and become a Champion Hurdle horse and whilst he always ran very respectably in the 2022/23 NH season (RPRs of 156-161), he never coped with State Man and Constitution Hill. However, he is only young and that could still come with time. The main flaw in his hurdling career has been his jumping and there is none of that today, so I think he could prove to be even better on the Flat. I think he could make a mockery of 101 today and is a very worth 6/4 favourite. Again, I’d be shocked if he wasn’t finishing in the first five here.
We should be near enough breaking even on these two with place money and with the rub of the green on the day, both of these horses are capable and handicapped to win their respective races to give us a lovely profit. With Ryan Moore in the saddle for both, we certainly shouldn’t have any excuses with regards to the ride they are given.
