In taking the notable scalp of Guineas and Oaks winning filly Minding at the Curragh, Jet Setting sets the form standard for this one-mile Royal Ascot fillies’ Group One.
It might dry somewhat throughout the day but Jet Setting will certainly get her favoured softer conditions and will be very hard to beat if running to that level again.
The Curragh is a peculiar track and the form doesn’t always hold up that well at Ascot, so I’m taking her on with two horses towards the back of the market that look to be overpriced.
The first is William Haggis’s BESHARAH, who we selected for the French 1000 Guineas when she finished a really good fourth behind the winner La Cressonniere and today’s opponents Nathra and Qemah.
A little over a length separated those renewing rivalries in the finish yet Besharah is triple the price at 20/1, which seems wrong.
Her two-year-old form was really good and, crucially, she gets soft ground and she runs really well at Ascot – she was placed behind Acapulco in her runaway Queen Mary success at this meeting last year and the horse in second, Easton Angel, is twice a winner this season.
My second pick, for the Derby winning connections of Pat Smullen, Dermot Weld and the Aga Khan, is TANAZA, who was a distant seventh to Jet Setting in the Irish 1000 Guineas but had been off the track for nearly a year.
Weld doesn’t bring over horses without big chances so all his runners demand respect, while Pat Smullen is as good a jockey as anyone in the world – and there’s plenty to like about the horse, too.
Tanaza travelled into the race beautifully at the Curragh but didn’t find extra when needed, and if she’s come forward for the run she could improve past the lot of them today.
Weld has her entered in two Group One races over longer distances after this, so must believe she is up to this class and has the required stamina to stay further than this mile trip.
Well worth a bet at 20/1.
0.75pt each-way Besharah @20/1, 16:20 Ascot, Friday
0.75pt each-way Tanaza @20/1, 16:20 Ascot, Friday