Ascot Racing Tips Today | Timeform experts predictions for Thursday

Three of these ran in the Oaks but it’s six years since the Ribblesdale winner had run at Epsom, and focusing on an improving filly stepping up in grade looks a better option, with DIAMOND RAIN fitting the bill perfectly. She only made her debut seven weeks ago, but has already shown herself to be a very talented filly with the potential for plenty more improvement. Having done very well to make a winning debut from the position she found herself in on the round course here over a mile, she was more clued up when taking a listed race over a mile and a quarter at Newbury two and a half weeks later. The time was ordinary but that was on account of a steady gallop, and in readily getting the better of two other very promising fillies, with the three of them coming clear, she looked a Group 1 horse in the making. That race produced the first and third in last year’s Ribblesdale, and Diamond Rain – who boasts a fine physique – could be even better now that she steps up to a mile and a half, her dam having won not only the Oaks but also the Fillies’ And Mares’ Stakes over this C&D on the inaugural Champions Day.

A peak-form Kyprios would win this comfortably, but a closer look at his ratings suggests it’s by no means certain he’ll turn up as the force he once was under these conditions. He earned that peak rating of 128 rating in the mud in the Cadran, actually running to ‘only’ 123 when winning his Gold Cup earlier that year. His form dipped below even that in 2023, running to 121 when edged out in the Long Distance Cup by Trawlerman, and two wins this spring at odds of 13/2-on and 12/1-on aren’t proof that he retains all of his ability. With the ground again sure to be on the quick side, he looks a vulnerable favourite at short odds. Most of his opponents are the same old faces, so GREGORY is a fairly straightforward choice to take him on with. He was so impressive when winning the Queen’s Vase here last year and though he hasn’t yet kicked on from that, he hasn’t always had the test he needs, which he gets now. I expect Gregory to take a big step forward going beyond two miles for the first time and, seemingly in his element on fast ground, he looks to have genuine claims of turning over the favourite.

Graeme North: Gregory – 16:20 Royal Ascot

I could have tipped Whistlejacket with my timefigure hat on, but I’ve long been keen on GREGORY for the Gold Cup and am making him my best bet of the day. He won the Queen’s Vase last year readily and then ran a cracking St Leger trial in the Great Voltigeur at York dropped back to an insufficient mile and a half. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the best ride from an overly eager Kieran Shoemark in the St Leger, kept far too close to the strong pace yet still emerging easily the best of those who chased it, but he shaped very well in the Yorkshire Cup on his reappearance when partnered by James Doyle for the first time. He’s long looked one who will relish long distances and it’s not difficult to envisage him leaving his already smart form well behind.

He’s been my cliff horse of the season so far but BOPEDRO looks primed for a big run in Ascot’s finale on Thursday. A big eye-catcher when third in the Hambleton Handicap at York on his penultimate outing, he then found the test too sharp when mid-field at Epsom next time. He’s now lower in the weights than when beaten less than three lengths in this contest last year and the return to a stiff track looks right up his street. That combined with a guaranteed strong pace means that Bopedro should get the ideal scenario for a big run and, with enhanced placed terms available (first seven with Sky Bet), he looks a solid each-way play.

Flags and Ratings

The Ratings Choice

Whistlejacket – 14:30 Royal Ascot

WHISTLEJACKET was unable to reward support on his debut in a six-furlong maiden at the Curragh in April but he offered plenty to work with and duly built on that promise to get off the mark in style in a five-furlong listed race at the same venue last month.

Whistlejacket broke quickly, raced with enthusiasm at the head of affairs and kept on well when shaken up to beat subsequent Marble Hill Stakes winner Arizona Blaze by three and three-quarter lengths, earning a Timeform rating of 106p to mark himself out as the pick of the division heading into Royal Ascot.

That performance places him 9 lb clear of his closest rival, the reopposing Arizona Blaze, on Timeform’s figures for the Norfolk Stakes, while there is clearly the potential for more to come after only two starts. Incidentally, his brother, Little Big Bear, was also rated 106p heading into Royal Ascot when winning the Windsor Castle Stakes two years ago.

The Timeform Flag

King’s Gambit – 17:40 Royal Ascot

Flags: Horse In Focus, Top-Rated

The London Gold Cup is always one of the strongest three-year-old middle-distance handicaps of the year and the latest edition featured plenty of promising sorts, including six last-time-out winners.

It was impressive, therefore, that KING’S GAMBIT was able to establish himself as a class apart from his rivals on his reappearance and handicap debut, making a mockery of his opening mark as he stormed four lengths clear.

The turn of foot King’s Gambit produced at Newbury marked him out as an exciting prospect and the smart level of form he showed suggests he’s well up to winning at pattern level, just like Al Kazeem, Time Test and Headman who also won the London Gold Cup before going on to better things for the Charlton stable.

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