Royal Ascot is the Flat meeting of the year and Sky Bet has all you need to enjoy betting on it this week.
Sky Bet pick out the highlights of Royal Ascot
Royal Ascot is the best Flat racing meeting of the year and Sky Bet has all you need to enjoy betting from the Berkshire track.
Sky Bet offer odds on everything from Frankie Dettori to be crowned top jockey at Royal Ascot to betting on all 30 of the top class races. Seven of the 17 Group contests held at the meeting retain Group 1 status and over £4 million in total prize money is up for grabs over the five days in June.
First day: Tuesday, 15th June:
Royal Ascot begins on Tuesday and what a way to start with three Group 1 races opening the card, one after the other, featuring the Queen Anne Stakes, The King's Stand Stakes and St James' Palace Stakes.
Multiple Group1 winners Paco Boy, Goldikova and Rip Van Winkle are set to go head to head in the Queen Anne Stakes, while the other highlight on the opening day card will be the clash of Makfi and Canford Cliffs in the St James' Palace Stakes.
The 2000 Guineas winner Makfi had the measure of his old rival when they last met at Newmarket in May. However, Canford Cliffs has since run out a brilliant winner of the Irish equivalent at the Curragh setting up a mouth-watering rematch between the star 3yo milers.
Second day: Wednesday, 16th June:
For purists day two revolves around the Group 1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes but for punters it is all about the Royal Hunt Cup. The competitive nature of the race is reflected in the betting with Sky Bet's odds headed by 7/1 chance Mabait from the Luca Cumani stable.
A cavalry charge run over the straight mile, it is one of the hardest and most difficult puzzles to solve at the whole Royal meeting and Sky Bet make Dandy Boy 12/1 joint next best in an open betting heat.
The Irish raider thwarted a massive gamble on Mabait by a head when swooping late to snatch victory here by a head in the Victoria Cup over the shorter trip of seven furlongs last time.
Sir Michael Stoute's Three Last Minutes handicap mark has been saved for a crack at one of the Royal Ascot handicaps and he is a 12/1 chance for the Royal Hunt Cup. He ran an eye-catching race on his Chester prep that caught the eye of the shrewd Sky Bet odds compilers.
Third day: Thursday, 17th June:
Yeats did the unthinkable last year nearly bringing the roof down on the busiest day of Royal Ascot on Ladies' Day by becoming the first horse in Ascot Gold Cup history to win the Group1 staying crown four years running.
Trained by Aidan O'Brien, the old warhorse is now enjoying a well deserved retirement. In his absence, the Gold Cup picture had looked wide open before Henry Cecil's Manifest burst on the scene. The rising star of the staying ranks leapt to the head of the Ascot Gold Cup betting with Sky Bet at odds of 11/4 following his breathtaking victory in the Yorkshire Cup.
If Ballydoyle are to continue their domination of the race, Sky Bet's 9/2 second favourite Age of Aquarius has the unenviable task of trying to fill the void left by his stablemate's retirement. Godolphin's big hope is last year's St Leger runner-up Kite Wood, while Francois Doumen sends over Kasbah Bliss, a one-time leading fancy for the Stayers' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
Fourth day: Friday, 18th June:
Although not the strongest day in terms of quality, the Coronation Stakes is the jewel in the crown and often brings together the winners of the 1000 Guineas from Britain, France and Ireland.
The top miling three-year-old fillies in Europe have various scores to settle this year as British and French 1000 Guineas winner Special Duty needed the stewards' intervention to complete the Classic double.
Henry Cecil's Jacqueline Quest finished first past the post at Newmarket only to get demoted and will be seeking revenge, while the French Classic resulted in a bunched finish in a rough race.
Throw in Dermot Weld's improving Bethrah into the mix - the trainer's fourth winner of the Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh last month - and it makes for what could be an explosive renewal if they all line up.
However, Classic form can often be turned on its head with last year's winner Ghanaati the first in the last four renewals to uphold Classic winning form after her brilliant Guineas success at Newmarket.
Fifth day: Saturday, 19th June:
The last day of the meeting sees the speedsters take centre stage. In the Golden Jubilee Stakes, the John Gosden-trained Showcasing went in many notebooks for this valuable Group 1 contest after his highly promising York comeback.
Far from fully wound up for the Duke of York Stakes, he was drawn away from the action and did well to pick up powerfully in the final furlong to finish third. Sky Bet make him a 6/1 favourite to see off a strong Foreign raiding party.
Although some will doubt his credentials taking on the seasoned older horses, an inferior three-year-old won it last year when Art Connoisseur sprang a 20/1 shock for his generation.
The Wokingham handicap is run over the same six furlong trip as the Group 1 sprinting highlight and is ultra competitive with Sky Bet's betting headed by 8/1 shots Enact and Hawkeyethenoo. The latter was a fast-finishing second in the Epsom Dash and will appreciate the stiffer track at Ascot.
Sir Michael Stoute enjoys a fine record in the Duke of Edinburgh Handicap and any entries made by the Derby-winning trainer warrant the utmost respect. The same comments apply to his Hardwicke Stakes runners as his older horses return a level stakes profit each year.
Backing your fancies could not be easier and at Sky Bet there are a host of special offers during Royal Ascot week to give punters the potential of a better return with extra place races, improved place terms, specials galore and much, much more.
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