What a week of horse racing it has been for followers of the sport with Royal Ascot making headlines. Punters benefited from a number of nice priced upsets in the big events and bookmakers were made to pay the price. Here are our top June 22 horse racing betting tips.
We barely get chance to draw breath and we’re back into the thick of it with a weekend packed with delights. Saturday’s card consists of meetings at Ascot, Newmarket, Ayr, Redcar, Perth, Haydock, Lingfield and Down Royal. You can follow the action live on TV thanks to Racing UK and ITV or using one of the mobile apps offered by major bookmakers. Place your racing bets at Ladbrokes and watch the action live and for free on your mobile phone or tablet device.
Diamond Jubilee Stakes – 4.20pm Royal Ascot
There’s plenty to catch our eye on Saturday but we continue the focus on Royal Ascot with the Berkshire course staging another afternoon of top-class flat racing. The card gets started at 2.30pm with a listed stakes and is brought to a close with a conditions race at 5.35pm. What lies between the first and last legs of the day is of particular interest to us, especially the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes that goes to post at 4.20pm.
A six furlongs dash with over £340,000 paid to the winner, it’s little surprise to see some of the sport’s biggest and best names in attendance. The antepost list was made up of 20 runners although that field was cut down to a more manageable number at the various declarations stages
A few fancied runners missed out on the chance to compete, but the final line-up looks like it will provide us with a fantastic renewal. Everyone inside the arena will be in their seats for the off of the Diamond Jubilee Stakes and there will be millions more watching around the world.
Piggotts Achievements Unlikely to be Passed
The Diamond Jubilee Stakes has a record that can be traced all the way back to 1868, making it one of the most historic fixtures on the British horse racing calendar. It took on its current form in 1971 and we’ve enjoyed some memorable winners over the years. Kings Company claimed the prize for Freddy Head and Willie Robinson in 1971 but the first five years were dominated by Lester Piggott and Vincent O’Brien. That proved to be a winning partnership in 1974 and 1975 thanks to Saritamer and Swingtime. As you would expect, there’s plenty for lovers of the stats to go on.
Lester Piggott rates as the most successful jockey ever to have contested this prize with the rider responsible for no less than 10 winners since 1958 and 1993. The first on that list came in the form of Right Boy, with the run completed by College Chapel in 1993. Double-figure wins is no mean feat in any race, let alone a Group 1, and it’s unlikely that achievement will ever be beaten.
Sticking with the record books and we see Prince Charlie is the best horse to run in the Diamond Jubilee, having won three titles. The first came in 1872, followed by 1873 and 1874. Nothing relevant there for followers of the trends. Vincent O’Brien is leading trainer with five – Welsh Saint 1970, Saritamer 1974, Swingtime 1975, Thatching 1979 and College Chapel with that success in 1993. The leading owner race is tied on three wins for Joseph Dawson and Jack Joel.
Moore Has Ridden Two of the Last Three Winners
Concentrating on more recent runnings of the race and we see Merchant Navy won 12 months ago for Aidan O’Brien under the ride of Ryan Moore. That’s worth keeping in mind as it was the jockey’s second title in the last three years with Twilight Son scoring in 2016 for Henry Candy. Looking at the age of winners and he note three of the last five champions have been aged five years old at the time of being crowned. Will we witness another five-year-old do the business this year? Bookmakers have had their say and pin their hopes on Invincible Army who has been chalked up as antepost favourite by all major firms. The jolly attracted plenty of support since the book was open and we expect that to continue right up to the off time.
The four-year-old colt doesn’t fit into the age trend, but he does bring bags of promise with him to track and carries the confidence that comes from a strong run of recent form. He was last seen bagging the Duke of York Clipper Logistics Stakes, a Group 2 run over six furlongs at York in May. Invincible Army won that day, scoring off an SP 7/2 and he finished over two lengths ahead of runner-up Major Jumbo, with Yafta back in third.
Invincible Army Chasing a Treble
Irish-bred Invincible Army goes to Royal Ascot chasing down a hattrick and what a venue it would be to complete the treble. That run go started at Doncaster on March 30 when taking the Listed Cammidge Trophy Stakes over 6f. He beat Major Jumbo by a couple of lengths that day with Equilateral completing the major places. The winner came good at 4/1. His CV now reads five wins on the flat with another five runner-up finishes from 13 goes.
Those numbers will fill backers with confidence. The current betting has Invincible Army at 4/1, a price you’ll find at William Hill. That price is sure to shorten before the off so our advice is, if you fancy having your cash down on Invincible Army, act sooner rather than later. Others worth a mention in the race winner market are Blue Point who has a 9/4 price attached by William Hill, City Light 7/1, The Tin Man 12/1 and Le Brivido 12/1. Each-way players can take advantage of 1/5 the odds a place 1-2-3 with all major betting firms.