The Prince of Wales’s Stakes is the Group 1 highlight on day two of Royal Ascot and this year’s edition looks a very open contest, headlined by 2021 Derby winner Adayar and fellow top-level winners Luxembourg and Bay Bridge.
Punters face a stern examination on the undercard, with big fields a plenty across two Grade 2 contests, a brace of juvenile sprints and a couple of handicaps including the Royal Hunt Cup. The latter race is where one of our most confident selections of the day pitches up.
Royal Ascot Tips: Day 2
4.20 – Luxembourg to win @ 2/1
5.00 – Wanees to win (each-way) @ 25/1
6.10 – Maximum Impact to win @ 13/2
Bet on the latest Royal Ascot odds with Betzone
Forecast good for Luxembourg if Bay Bridge is the Barometer
Luxembourg and Adayar are set to scrap for favouritism ahead of 2023-second Bay Bridge in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes betting and the last mentioned could be key to picking between them.
Sir Michael Stoute’s five-year-old beat Adayar by half a length to win the Group 1 Qipco Champion Stakes last October, but more recently lost by half a length to Luxembourg in the top flight Tattersalls Gold Cup in late May.
A year younger than his two main market rivals, Luxembourg could still be on the upgrade and has done little wrong in his career to date, having won six of his nine career starts and could improve past his adversaries here.
Tip: 4.20 – Luxembourg to win @ 2/1
Hills animal generously priced given stable’s Royal Hunt Cup record
WANEES has hardly gone out of his way to highlight his candidacy as a potential Royal Hunt Cup winner, finishing 21/22 and 10/12 in his past two outings across April and May.
Maybe that’s why the Betzone traders are willing to lay him at 25/1 despite his stable’s superb strike rate in the race.
No trainer has a better record in this heritage handicap over the past 20 runnings than Charles Hills, who has bagged two winners and four places from eight runners in that timeframe. Those two winners Dark Shift (2022) and Afaak (2019) both came within the last four editions.
Wanees has course form, having finished three and a-quarter-lengths sixth in last year’s Britannia Stakes (aka the Royal Hunt Cup for three-year-olds) off a mark of 91 at last year’s Royal Meeting.
He last scored in a Haydock mile handicap off 93 last September and runs off 95 here. This will be only his 10th career run and it would be unwise to rule out further improvement being unearthed by his shrewd handler here.
Tip: 5.00 – Wanees to win (each-way) @ 25/1
Stott has the Amo for Windsor Castle mission in course and distance winner
The Amo Racing ownership operation have a superb strike-rate with their two-year-olds this season. At the time of running their juveniles have contested 48 races on turf in 2022/23, winning 15 (31%) and finishing in the first three with all bar five of those runners.
Team Amo run three in this contest and it’s likely that their first-choice pilot Jockey Kevin Stott had the pick of them so it seems significant that he’s plumped for MAXIMUM IMPACT.
The selection destroyed a Leicester novice field by 12 lengths on debut despite the heavy ground and backed that up with another authoritative victory over course and distance last time out.
The last of that brace of exciting showings came in early May and there’s every chance he’s strengthened up further in the interim given plenty of time to prepare for this.
Tip: 6.10 – Maximum Impact to win @ 13/2
