Royal Ascot

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

1 week ago

| BY Steve Mullington

A look at the best bet of the day on Friday at Royal Ascot 2026, with William Hill tipster Steve Mullington revealing his NAP for Day 4 of the meeting.

He’s not the Messiah, or maybe he is? Well, that’s the thought that will certainly be on punter’s minds if John Gosden can get WATER TO WINE (NAP) to land the King Edward VII Stakes at 5.35pm on Friday.

The three-year-old was a 25-1 shot in our horse racing betting for the Epsom Derby, having impressively won by four and a quarter lengths on his debut in a Newbury maiden in April.

However, he was a late absentee from the Chester Vase due to a temperature and was then pulled from the famous Classic on the Downs.

At Water To Wine’s second outing late last month, he again looked a high-class prospect when cruising home to an easy 11-length victory at Kempton and now heads into proper racing territory for the first time in a race that is commonly known as the ‘Ascot Derby’.

Find race-by-race tips and predictions in our Royal Ascot Day 4 preview here!

The George Strawbridge-owned blueblood is very much the one they all have to beat here, especially based upon his pedigree.

Being a homebred, the youngster never went to auction, but a yearling of his calibre would easily have commanded a high six-figure or even seven-figure sum if he had ever hit the public market

Given the stallion power of Kingman and the Group-winning ability of his dam – Listen In, Water To Wine was always going to a horse that would be tasting Group level glory.

It just remains to be seen what echelon he can reach, but this Group 2 would be a deserving start for an owner who puts a lot into thoroughbred Flat racing, especially from a breeding prospective.

The general consensus from myself and from some of my colleagues across the racing media is that skipping the gruelling demands of the Epsom Derby will certainly give him a massive edge when it comes to this contest.

Andrew Asquith (Sporting Life) is very enthusiastic about the colt, saying during the Royal Ascot jury panel that the horse has “seriously impressed” him and has the raw ability to go to a much higher level, predicting he will go “right to the top”.

Also a big fan of the colt is Ross Millar (Racing TV), who publicly singled out Water To Wine as a “top class” individual, pointing out that any horse who finishes behind him -such as White Storm, whom he beat by 11 lengths, is instantly worth a follow.

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.