Royal Ascot betting: Tahiyra and Mawj set for rematch

Want to place a Royal Ascot bet? Check out this offer:

Already used the bet365 sign-up offer? Check out all the latest bookmaker offers and the best betting sites.

Find all of the best Royal Ascot free bets for the 2023 Festival.

Coronation target for Tahiyra

Dermot Weld has confirmed that his Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Tahiyra is being geared up for a Royal Ascot rematch with Mawj in the Coronation Stakes on June 23.

Mawj and Oisin Murphy had half a length to spare over Tahiyra in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May, when the front pair left the field trailing more than seven lengths in their wake.

The Aga Khan-owned Tahiyra then went on to land the Irish Guineas at The Curragh, relegating Aidan O’Brien’s Meditate to second by a length and a half.

Both Tahiyra and the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Mawj are reported to be on course for the Coronation Stakes at Ascot.

Despite the outcome at Newmarket, Tahiyra has assumed favouritism at 6/4 to gain revenge on 2/1 Mawj at the Royal meeting.

“She came out of the [Irish] Guineas well,” was the latest assessment from Weld. “It was a little bit quick to run her back after the English Guineas but she has taken it well and at the moment we’re all set for the Coronation.

• Discover the latest free bets to use on this week’s sporting action.

Weld admits to going concern

With Tahiyra yet to run on ground quicker than good, Weld admits he will be keeping a careful eye on the Ascot going between now and the Royal meeting in less than a fortnight.

“We’ll play it by ear with the weather,” said the Irish trainer. “We hope that they will water it well. It’s very dry, quick ground but it was lovely ground at The Curragh.

“She has got a wonderful turn of pace. She’s in good order and the current plan is that we are all set for the Coronation.”

Tahiyra's rapid rise to the top

A filly by Siyouni out of Tarana, Tahiyra made her debut in a maiden at the Galway Festival last summer – the Ballybrit jamboree always having retained a place close to Weld’s heart.

Her win there was no great shock, but perhaps more so was the decision from the Rosewell House trainer to target the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh on her next outing. She claimed the spoils there, from Meditate, to become a top-level winner.

Her next outing came in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, where she kick-started the Classic season with another exceptional run in a duel with Mawj, who just had enough in the tank to earn the win.

By contrast the winner, a Godolphin filly, had five runs last season, all over 6f. She won a novice race at Newmarket on her debut and then finished second to Meditate in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot. She went one better in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes back at Newmarket but that form was reversed as Lezoo won the Cheveley Park Stakes in September.

Ahead of her Rowley Mile success in May, Mawj had illustrated her well-being with a pair of wins at Meydan in January and February – the latter when upped to a mile and she streaked clear – but she was still a 9/1 chance at the off in the Guineas.

That win came on soft ground but, unlike Tahiyra, Mawj also boasts winning form on good-to-firm from last summer.

• Sounds of Heaven @ 14/1
• Remarquee @ 20/1