John Gosden and Frankie Dettori have combined to win several times this week already, and they team up again with ANGEL’S HIDEAWAY in the opener on Friday’s Royal Ascot card.
It looks a good renewal of the six-furlong Albany Stakes for filles, and Aidan O’Brien dominates the market with Just Wonderful, the somewhat surprising choice of Ryan Moore, and Fairyland for Seamie Heffernan.
Both looked very good on their previous starts but neither are by Coolmore’s super-sires Galileo or Scatt Daddy, whose two-year-olds are generally rock solid and have a habit of justifying favouritism, so I’m not afraid to take them on in a competitive race.
Angel’s Hideaway is very lightly raced – as they all are here – and won her last start oh-so easily when skipping over the fast ground at Haydock.
She’s by top sprinting sire Dark Angel so there are only positives on pedigree, but the clincher is the 14/1 price to accompany the top connections.
La Pelosa for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin might now be a little short at 9/1 after just the one appearance on the all weather at Kempton, but she is very interesting, while I’m intrigued by the French raider Reponse Exacte as she only made her debut recently on soft ground and this looks a confident entry.
I can’t really find any information on that one, but the opposite is true of Wesley Ward’s STILLWATER COVE, who is a big price at 18/1.
Wesley Ward is always positive about his runners’ chances but that confidence was justified on Thursday when Shang Shang Shang landed the opener, and it’s a little odd that Stillwater Cove is such a big price.
She won on the dirt on debut at Keeneland, but only by a nose, and Ward reckons she was given a bad ride that time and did too much too soon.
Having watched that race there’s no disputing that, and as she’s a half-sister to one of Ward’s previous Royal Ascot winners, Hootenanny, the switch to grass could well see that form reach a new level – which it needs to.
It’s a wide-open race where I’m happy to take two from the field at bigger prices.
1pt win Angel’s Hideaway @14/1, 14:30 Royal Ascot, Friday
1pt win Stillwater Cove @18/1, 14:30 Royal Ascot, Friday (Unibet)