Royal Ascot tips: ITV Racing expert names his picks for all seven races on day one
ITV Racing commentator Richard Hoiles has locked in his tips for day one of Royal Ascot. The broadcaster has a 6/1 fancy and is also siding with a Willie Mullins-trained runner owned by King Charles.
Thousands will flock to Berkshire this week as the Royal Meeting gets underway. Tueday begins with a cracking renewal of the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes. Six other races will follow, including the King Charles III Stakes for sprinters and some fine three-year-olds duelling in the St James's Palace Stakes. Hoiles, whose voice is synonymous with racing on ITV, has his eye on one horse in each of the seven contests that top-hatted punters will absorb on the first day of Royal Ascot.
2:30pm - Queen Anne Stakes: Docklands (13/2)Britain's best milers clash in the Queen Anne to open the day and Betway AmbassadorHoiles fancies Docklands to go back-to-back after winning the race in 2025 and coming second in 2024. He said: "Notable Speech ended a quiet spell for the stable when winning the Lockinge with a stunning turn of foot.
"The yard were back among the winners at the weekend and the drying ground will suit. But his two previous visits have both ended in defeat including when behind Docklands in the race last year. By contrast, Ascot has been a happy hunting ground for Harry Eustace's horse whose form figures at the track read 11322214."
3:05pm - Coventry Stakes: Confucius (2/1)Aidan O'Brien has dominated the Coventry in recent years with his two-year-olds and Hoiles thinks this renewal will be no different. He said: "The message is a clear one, support Ballydoyle here but not in many other juvenile races this week.
"It is slightly complicated by Aidan saddling two, but the expensive and beautifully bred Confucius is the choice of Ryan Moore and gets the nod. A 1.7m Guineas yearling whose dam won the Cheveley Park, Confucius was Coolmore's first juvenile runner of the season when narrowly beaten on his debut before making short work of a Naas field in May."
The famous five-furlong dash up the straight course is up next and it's an Aussie raider that has caught the eye. Hoiles said: "The recent domestic sprint division has been littered with big-priced winners so they are a bunch ripe for the picking.
"Asfoora and Overpass are the two Aussies in the line-up this time around with preference for the latter based on some excellent runs in defeat, most notably his fourth in the Everest to the world's best sprinter Ka Ying Rising."
4:20pm - St. James's Palace Stakes: Gstaad (11/4)Revenge is on the cards for Hoiles in the St. James's Palace. He said: "A return clash between the front pair in the 2000 Guineas, Bow Echo and Gstaad, and where no doubt Coolmore have been plotting their tactics for revenge.
"The two are quite different physically, Bow Echo more lithe and athletic compared to the more physically substantial Gstaad. It was also a home game for Bow Echo as the superb post-race jubilation showed, but around a bend and with the presence of Puerto Rico in the field to no doubt assist Gstaad, this could be a trickier assignment to pull off.
"It is a terrific clash and very much the feature of Day 1, but again with strong Aidan O'Brien stats in the race, Gstaad already having proven himself at the meeting as one of the aforementioned stable winners of the Coventry, coupled with the bigger price he looks the percentage call from a betting perspective."
5pm - Ascot Stakes: Reaching High (9/4)A Royal winner on Day One? Hoiles thinks so. He said: "Like the Cesarewitch, the extreme distance lends itself to dual purpose horses but in Reaching High he not only has a horse that has never run under National Hunt Rules but also has the added frisson of being owned by the King and with a score to settle after a luckless run in the race last year.
"It is obviously of some concern that he hasn't been seen since but that could also be so that he couldn't blow his handicap mark as he can run off the same level as last year. There is not much that Willie Mullins hasn't achieved in racing but a regally owned winner at Royal Ascot could well be an itch he has been scratching since twelve months ago."
Free shop bets and packed pullouts every day of Royal Ascot with your Express
Last year's winner is Hoiles' selection in the Wolferton. He said: "Wathnan Racing target this week like no other in the calendar. Two of their 10 victories have come via Haatem whose Royal record reads fifth in the Coventry prior to wins in the Group 3 Jersey and then this race twelve months ago.
"Wathnan saddle three in the race (also King's Gambit and Map of Stars) but retained rider James Doyle sticks with Haatem and that seals the deal."
6:10pm - Copper Horse Stakes: Daiquiri Bay (6/1)To finish off the day, Hoiles likes the look of one of Alan King's. He said: "Another staying handicap to close Day One and again Wathnan have a strong hand, but Daiquiri Bay is unexposed at trip and made an excellent return to action at Newmarket when beating another of today's rivals in Gamrai.
"Of the pair he looks the more likely to benefit from the extra quarter mile having been a never-nearer eighth in last year's King George V over 1m 4f."