The final day of Royal Ascot 2024 sees all seven races broadcast live for terrestrial TV viewers on ITV and ITV4, with the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and the Wokingham Handicap among the highlights.
Royal Ascot Saturday best bets
3.05 – Isle Of Jura to win @ 8/1
3.45 – Khaadem to win (each-way) @ 22/1
Bet on the latest Royal Ascot odds with Betzone
Hardwicke could go the way of Scott’s prolific scorer
Aidan O’Brien’s 2023 St Leger winner Continuous sets a serious standard in the Hardwicke Stakes, lining up 5lbs clear of the field on official ratings.
Nonetheless he could be worth opposing over 2f shorter than his classic win on his seasonal debut and a rival that can’t fail to catch the eye is George Scott’s prolific ISLE OF JURA.
The four-year-old son of New Approach took out four valuable handicaps in five runs over distances between 1m2f and 1m4f during a profitable winter and spring spell in Bahrain and proved he wasn’t done improving when winning a listed race at Goodwood in late May.
As such it’s an open question as to where his upward trajectory will end and any doubts over the calibre of his Bahrain form can be assuaged by the last of his wins in the Gulf state.
In winning the His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa Cup the Scott animal beat King Of Conquest by four lengths, with that rival finishing a nose behind Middle Earth on his next run.
Middle Earth is trading at 5/2 second favourite to win the Hardwicke, yet his conqueror is trading at many times the price.
Tip: 3.05 – Isle Of Jura to win @ 8/1
Last year’s winner underestimated in day’s feature race
The short memories of punters and bookies alike can be readily exploited with a bet on 2023 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes winner KHAADEM back at the scene of his Group 1 breakthrough.
Charles Hills’ eight-year-old is highly likely to have been laid out for a repeat bid for the final top-flight contest of the Royal Meeting and will face the same good-to-firm ground he scored on 12 months ago.
Oisin Murphy has been booked for the ride and with no jockey riding Ascot better this week, Khaadem looks sure to be cajoled into laying down another bold bid.
Tip: 3.45 – Khadem to win (each-way) @ 22/1
Typically well-hatched Mullins plot can take out finale
The two mile five-and-a-half furlong Queen Alexandra Stakes is the oddity which ends five days of Royal Meeting action at Ascot and POSTILEO is taken to send punters on their way in winning fashion.
Ultra-shrewd owner Paul Byrne teams up with peerless target trainer Emmet Mullins on this seven-year-old son of Galileo and there’s plenty to like about his chances.
Postileo hasn’t got within nine lengths of a winner in three runs since Mullins took over his care from Roger Varian, but prior to the switch he had plenty of pertinent form, including a victory in a £52k handicap over 1m4f at Hamilton in which first-time cheekpieces were deployed.
That headgear is back on for the first time since at Ascot, where he returns a year on from a decent sixth behind Vauban in the Copper Horse Handicap (1m6f).
It’s likely this race has been on the agenda since prior to his purchase in February this year and he’s taken to relish the step back up in trip.
