By Ed Culham
WITH just six runners going to post for the Group One Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (4:20pm), we could be set for a very tactical 10 furlongs.
Ryan Moore will be sensing a soft lead aboard Luxembourg, who shares the head of the betting with Adayar at 9/4, and if he’s not made to work for it then today’s feature race could well head back to Ballydoyle.
Moore’s mount, who didn’t have to pass a single rival to land the Tattersalls Gold Cup last time out, looks like adopting similar tactics once again, particularly given the small field size.
Luxembourg may well get the run of the race, but it’s not often that these top Group Ones at Royal Ascot are won quite as softly as his victory at the Curragh was.
Bay Bridge chased him home that day, and there’s no doubt that Moore benefitted from dictating the pace aboard the winner, but the runner-up could have got closer if good enough.
Having finished second in this race 12 months ago Bay Bridge has to be taken seriously, and I do think he can be in the shake-up, but he’ll probably just come up short once again.
With the race unlikely to provide much of a stamina test, 2021 Derby and King George double winner Adayar is passed over at shortish odds, and the preference is for MY PROSPERO.
The key to this lightly-raced four-year-old is he’s very straightforward.
He’ll likely race up with whatever sort of pace is set, applying enough pressure to make sure it’s not a dawdle, and as a horse that finished third over a mile in last year’s St James’s Palace Stakes, he’s clearly got a decent finishing kick too.
He made an encouraging reappearance when fourth in the Lockinge, a run which advertised his potential to be top class over 1m2f this season having stayed on again after getting outpaced.
Though Adayar, Luxembourg and also Bay Bridge all have Group One prizes on their resumés, My Prospero, who’s yet to win at the highest level, has a few less miles on the clock and looks like a horse that can really shine in his four-year-old campaign.
There really isn’t too much between the first four in the betting, but My Prospero is less exposed, straightforward when it comes to tactics and, crucially, is a nice price at 7/2 with Star Sports.
Mostahdaf wouldn’t be a crazy selection at around the 20/1 mark.
He’s shown his liking for this trip having blitzed his rivals by seven lengths in the 1m2½f Group Three Neom Turf Cup on Saudi Cup Night back in February.
His fourth-placed effort in a strong renewal of the Group One Dubai Sheema Classic wasn’t to be sniffed at and, after a couple of months to freshen up, he could run well again back in trip.
As for the American raider, Classic Causeway, he needs to find plenty on official ratings, albeit international form is tricky to stack up.
He’s a Group One winner in his own right, beating a decent yardstick, Nations Pride, in the Belmont Derby last summer, but his form has been less than impressive since and taking on Europe’s premier middle-distance turf horses is likely to prove too big a task.
POINTERS
My Prospero 4.20pm Royal Ascot
