Royal Ascot Tip – St James Palace Stakes

Following his runaway victory in the French 2000 Guineas at Deauville recently, the Aidan O’Brien-trained The Ghurka bids to cement his position as the best three-year-old miler in Europe by taking the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes and is likely to prove a warm order at Royal Ascot in two weeks time.  However, in what looks one of the least competitive races at the Royal meeting, the Galileo colt is worth taking on with Irish 2000 Guineas winner Awtaad.

The contest looks to involve those two Guineas winners along with Newmarket Classic scorer Galileo Gold and there are several reasons to believe the Irish version to be the stronger of the three races. Despite the fact that The Gurkha put over five lengths between himself and the opposition in France, the seemingly well exposed First Selection filled the runner-up spot, putting in some doubt about the value of the form.

Galileo Gold won the Newmarket Guineas on merit but, despite a far from clear passage, proved no match for Kevin Prendergast's colt at the Curragh and with the son of Cape Cross improving with each outing since making his debut at that course last October it would be no surprise if he turned out to be the leading three-year-old miler come the end of the season making the 7-2 generally available for Royal Ascot one of the best bets at the meeting.

Royal Ascot Tip

2 points win Awtaad 7-2 bet365