Royal Ascot

Who Is The NAP Of The Day At Royal Ascot On Wednesday?

2 weeks ago

| BY Steve Mullington

As is the case every day at the Royal meeting, it’s often quite tricky to come up with an outright NAP of the day, however I feel a compelling case can be made for GALIYAN (NAP) in the Group 2 Queen’s Vase at 3.05pm.

Trained by Andrew Balding, the three-year-old Galiway colt has got proven stamina and looks progressive from what we have witnessed thus far. Given Balding’s excellent record in middle-distance events, I make him a standout contender to claim this esteemed race for three-year-olds.

Looking for Royal Ascot Day 2 tips? Check out our race-by-race preview

Galiyan’s dam side is renowned for producing top-class stayers and unsurprisingly his stamina came to the fore in his explosive performance at Chester’s May Meeting, where despite showing signs of greenness, he romped home over an extended mile-and-a-half.

Factor in that he was actually extending and going away at the line, it was clear to myself and other pundits that stepping up in trip to the Queen’s Vase distance will be the making of the horse and he holds all the aces going into Wednesday’s race.

Once again I’m not alone in the press room in my support for the Balding charge in the Queen’s Vase.

Declan Rix (Sky Sports Racing) says of the youngster: “He looks a talented colt in the making; exciting, because after just two career starts, you’ve got to think there is more to come”, while commentator and presenter Anthon Ennis notes that: “He looked all about stamina when winning his maiden over 1m 4f at Chester last month, where the Galiway colt shaped like he would prefer a stiffer test and more of a gallop.”

Harry Allwood of Racing TV goes even further with his support for the Balding runner, suggesting that a trip to the oldest Classic in September could potentially be on the cards for this Royal Ascot hopeful: “I expect him to take another big step forward now from Chester, and he could also be a potential St Leger contender this year.” (I’ve had a small bet on him at the 25-1 available in our sports betting).

Meanwhile at the official Racing Post Ultimate Preview Night, the panellists flagged him up as a standout selection for this race, while the same newspaper has been reporting his odds plummeted from 6/1 into the current horse racing betting favourite due to a wave of public money.

Lucky Stable is a free-to-play racing game available every day during Royal Ascot. You can find it in the Lucky Stable lobby.

Just enter the Royal Ascot game and select “Reveal Stable” to draw five horses at random. You win a share of the jackpot prize if three (3) or more of their drawn horses win their respective races.