Saturday 18th June 2022

Author: Jordan Yates (EvRacing_)

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Raising the curtain on the concluding day of the Royal Meeting is the 2:30 which is the listed Chesham Stakes over seven furlongs. I think this is all about the Aidan O’Brien trained Alfred Munnings who’s currently a 5/4 chance under Ryan Moore. He’s a full brother to the yards’ extremely smart filly Snowfall and he made a huge impression on debut at Leopardstown when bolting up by four and a half lengths. Generally, horses from this yard come on off after their first outing so for him to win so dominantly on his first outing is really taking. He could well prove another top asset for Ballydoyle.

It’s Group 3 action up at 3:05 which comes in the form of the Jersey Stakes over seven furlongs. This is wide-open as it’s currently 4/1 the field, I’ve taken a chance on a horse that gives a rare Royal Ascot runner to Henry De Bromhead and that’s Star Girls Aalmal at 6/1 who’s the mount of Billy Lee. She looks a progressive filly and her most recent outing came in the Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh in May where she finished fourth of sixteen. The finishing position doesn’t tell the full story of that particular assignment of hers though, as she met trouble in running and could well have finished even closer to the very smart Homeless Songs. I think that form makes her a serious player for this.

We move things along to the 3:40 which is the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes which is a race that’s contested over a distance of a mile and four furlongs. This looks to be all about Hurricane Lane who currently heads the market at 4/5 for the team of Charlie Appleby, William Buick, and Godolphin. He developed into one of the best middle-distance horses in training last season, with the definite highlight coming when tasting classic success in the St Leger. He signed off a fine campaign with a third-place effort in the Arc and as a result of said fine campaign, he finds himself well clear on ratings for this and it will take a massive performance to stop him.

It’s Group 1 action at 4:20 as the Platinum Jubilee Stakes takes centre-stage over six furlongs. I think this could well prove to be more Australian success at the meeting as I’ve sided with Home Affairs here at 2/1 for the team of Chris Waller and James McDonald who tasted success here on the opening day with Nature Strip. This colt is a dual Group 1 winner and despite being prone to an off day every now and again is clear on the ratings against the rest of the rivals that’ll he face off against in this assignment. He actually beat the King Stand winner and his stablemate Nature Strip on his penultimate outing when taking out a Group 1, and if he turns up in that kind of form here he’ll be incredibly tough to beat.

Moving onto the 5:00 which is the Wokingham Stakes a heritage handicap over six furlongs. This is actually the last race of the meeting that I’ll be sharing my views on, as I haven’t got much of an opinion on the last two races of the card, so I won’t be wasting your time with them. In this particular affair though I do fancy one, and that’s Rohaan at 12/1 for David Evans and Ryan Moore. He won this race off a three-pound higher mark last year and has since been tried in pattern company, he’s found life tough at a higher level, but I think dropping back down to handicapping at a racecourse he can clearly go well at could see him return to form.