Carry The Flag can get the punters off to flier on final day of Royal Ascot
Ryan Moore on Great Barrier Reef holds off Wayn Lordan on Carry The Flag to win The Kilkea Castle Marble Hill Stakes (Group 3) Pic: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
Having had his form boosted by Ballydoyle stablemate Great Barrier Reef’s Coventry Stakes win on Tuesday, Carry The Flag can get the final day of Royal Ascot off to the best possible start for punters by winning the Norfolk Stakes.
Second on debut over five furlongs at the Curragh in April, Carry The Flag got off the mark at Naas second time out before being reeled in by Great Barrier Reef in the Group 3 Marble Hull Stakes, a six-furlong contest, last time out.
That’s a seriously strong piece of form and, with the drop back to five furlongs certain to suit, he can emulate his sire No Nay Never by winning this Group 2 contest.
As is often the case, there’s a real international flavour to the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, the final Group 1 race of the week, and Australian raider Joliestar is narrowly preferred to Japanese visitor Satono Reve.
A five-time Group 1 winner, Joliestar is unbeaten in three starts this year and looks sure to run a big race.
Satono Reve’s CV is not as impressive on paper but he ran a cracker when runner-up in this race last year and another bold showing can be expected.
Kalpana looks the solid option in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes. The Andrew Balding-trained five-year-old boasts a fine course record, winning the last renewals of the Group 1 Fillies' & Mares' Stakes. In between, she ran a big race when second to Calandagan in last year's King George.
She made a successful return to action at Newbury last month, scoring more comfortably than the winning margin of a neck suggests, and ought to be tough to beat again.
It’s a decent race though and it’ll be interesting to see how Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Ethical Diamond, successful in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at this meeting last year, fares on his first run since finishing fifth in the Sheema Classic at Meydan in March.
Saber Strike puts his unbeaten record on the line in the Group 3 Jersey Stakes bit, while there’s a chance the William Haggas-trained Night Of Thunder colt will prove a cut above his rivals, Thesecretadversary appeals as a viable each-way alternative.
Trained by Fozzy Stack, successful with Nola Soul in the Chesham Stakes on Thursday, Thesecretadversary began his three-year-old campaign by winning a Leopardstown Group 3 over seven furlongs in April.
On the back of that success, Stack brought the St Mark’s Basilica colt to Newmarket for the 2000 Guineas where, despite racing keenly, he ran a decent race to finish fifth.
His free-going tendencies were again in evidence when sixth in the Irish 2,000 Guineas last time out so the drop back to seven furlongs for this assignment looks a good move. If he settles early, he may be able to outrun his odds.
Royal Ascot rarely passes without a Willie Mullins-trained winner and Le Destrier can ensure this year’s meeting doesn’t by landing the final race of the week, the Queen Alexandra Stakes.
A very lightly-raced seven-year-old, Le Destrier made an encouraging Closutton debut when a close third to subsequent Gold Cup hero Scandinavia at Leopardstown last month. He is fancied to build on that effort and give Mullins a record-extending sixth win in this race.
While Aidan O’Brien’s latest recording-breaking feats have hogged the racing headlines this week, his son Joseph has excelled as well and he might run riot at Down Royal today.
O’Brien has strong claims in three of the first four races on the sole Irish meeting this weekend with the most appealing Carriganóg runner coming in the BOYLE Sports Irish EBF Ulster Oaks Fillies Handicap where Chablis Rock is fancied to build on her April success at Limerick. Stablemates Vauntingly and Teologia should also prove tough to beat in the first two contests on the seven-race card.
2.30 Carry The Flag (Nap)
3.05 Kalpana
3.40 Joliestar
4.20 Thesecretadversary
5.00 Completely Random
5.35 Sahara King
6.10 Le Destrier (NB)
2.30 Orthodox
3.05 Ethical Diamond
3.40 Satono Reve
4.20 Saber Strike
5.00 Far Above Dream
5.35 Lost Boys
6.10 French Master
2.06 Vauntingly
2.41 Teologia (NB)
3.16 Cleopatra's Needle
3.53 Chablis Rock (Nap)
4.33 Bay Of Stars
5.13 Deluca Chop
5.43 Daddy Long Legs
2.06 Wickedly Wootton
2.41 Amrum
3.16 Coul Dore
3.53 Fiver Friday
4.33 Trojan Fighter
5.13 Pebble Island
5.43 Joe Cool
