On the eve of Royal Ascot, William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews this year’s meeting and offers an insight into the chances of his four runners.
Bet on Royal Ascot at William Hill
Hoping Kayhana can come home strong for Amo Racing
We’re really looking forward to Royal Ascot this year and it’s always a great week for everyone involved with the yard. It’s the biggest week of the Flat season for us and it’s exciting to have some nice horses going over again this year.
We started off with a bit of disappointing news as Robbies Rock didn’t make it into the Ascot Stakes. Some things are out of our control but he’s fit and well and we’ll certainly be looking at some other options for him. There’s a two-mile handicap at the Irish Derby weekend and he’s likely to go there.
We also won’t be running Brownstown in the Chesham. She had a good win at Leopardstown last week but there was ease in the ground, she made the running and had a hard enough race. We’ll keep her for later in the season and she has an entry in the Goffs Million (Curragh, Saturday 27th September) over seven furlongs which should be right up her street. We’ll certainly be keeping that in mind but all options are open for her.
Our first runner of the week comes in the Copper Horse Stakes with My Mate Mozzie (Tuesday, 6.10pm). He ran well to finish third in the race last year and we’re hopeful he can put in another good run this year. He comes here fresh and with a racecourse gallop at Navan under his belt, so we’re optimistic.
He’ll have Warren Fentiman on board claiming five pounds. He’s a young lad who’s riding well and seems to be good value for the five and hopefully that’ll help his chances. It’s a difficult decision to make because Ascot is a tough track to ride for any jockey, never mind a claimer. We have every confidence in Warren and hopefully it works out for him on the day.
Our other two runners both come in the Kensington Palace Stakes (Wednesday, 5.35pm). Kayhana will be our first runner for Amo Racing and it’s really exciting to have one for them at Royal Ascot. It’s a nice position to be in, having a runner for such a big owner, and as with all our horses we’ll just try to get the very best out of her. It’s certainly very exciting.
I think she’ll run well here. She had a lovely first run for us at Gowran Park a couple of weeks ago and I think she’s taken a step forward since. I’d imagine there’ll be plenty of pace in the race and if there is she should finish well. I think she’ll be fine on good to firm ground as she seems to handle most conditions.
Snellen also goes here having had a break since her trip to Bahrain where she performed well. We’re happy with her at home and she had a good racecourse gallop at Navan as well. She’ll love the fast ground and the stiff mile on the straight track should suit her well.
She goes to the Goffs London Sale this evening and there seems to be plenty of interest in her. I really don’t know how it’s going to go so just watch this space!
It’s a hard one to call between those two but I suppose Kayhana is possibly a bit less exposed. Snellen is proven and although she isn’t necessarily well-handicapped, I think she’s capable of running to her mark and potentially above it.
