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Updated: 28th May 2008 - GG.com

Punting Thrills In June

June is the month when the turf Flat season comes of age with the promise of blue skies and warm days serving as the perfect backdrop to a month of the best action that Flat racing has to offer. Of course, there is always the rain to spoil the parade but let’s say that where Ascot and Epsom are concerned optimism about the weather springs eternal.

The aforementioned two courses stage the season’s twin attractions in the two-day Epsom Derby meeting and the five days of top-class racing at Royal Ascot. With the formers’ centerpiece plucked from the growing obscurity of a midweek slot, we now have a Derby fixture worth its name while Royal Ascot hosts a meeting that is second to none on the festival front.

In 2008 the month’s action begins on Sunday June1 with the Prix du Jockey Club, or French Derby as it is more widely known, and this year’s renewal may well see an unusual contender in Pascal Bary’s Natagora, the game heroine of the 1,000 Guineas who has worked so brilliantly at home since being successful at Newmarket that her connections have decided on an ambitious tilt at the colts’ classic. Bary boasts a superb record in the Jockey Club, having won the race with Celtic Arms, Ragmar, Dream Well, Sulamani and Blue Canari since 1994.

On June 6 the Group 1 Juddmonte Oaks ignites the two-day Derby meeting and if the contrary Jim Bolger decides to send Lush Lashes, his Musidora victor, to Epsom she will be many people’s idea of the winner. With stamina to prove she may not be the ideal Oaks candidate, and there are more appealing prospects at bigger prices including John Gosden’s Michita, a 12-1shot and perhaps the best value of the home crowd while Sail and Katiyra look the best of the Irish. On the same day Andre Fabre’s Getaway looks primed to land the Coronation Cup.

Tracking the Vodafone Derby field as it streams around Tattenham Corner before taking off up that long and tilting straight qualifies as one of Flat racing’s supreme thrills but in 2008 it is anyone’s guess as to which horse will be flying home in front. If Dermot Weld lets Casual Conquest take his chance he would be my idea of the winner while Sir Michael Stoute holds a strong hand courtesy of Tajaaweed, Doctor Freemantle and Tartan Bearer. Preference is for the former who landed the Dee Stakes, the very same race that Stoute took with Kris Kin in 2003 before that one went on to a famous victory at Epsom.

The day after the Derby on June 8 Zarkava should stamp her seal as Europe’s leading middle-distance performer with a success in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly. The form of her French 1,000 Guineas success was given a timely boost when Halfway Heaven, the third horse home that day, landed the Irish 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh recently. At York on June 14 the Michael Jarvis-trained Ancien Regime could be the one for the William Hill Sprint Trophy while Luca Cumani’s progressive Ask The Butler is being readied to win the Queen Mother Cup, the race for lady amateur riders on the York card.

Five of Flat racing’s very best days begins on June 17 with the first day of Royal Ascot and the highlights of a cracking card will be the Group1 Queen Anne and St James’s Palace Stakes over a mile. In the former contest Godolphin’s Creachadoir should call the shots while in the latter France’s Falco could well follow-up his victory in the French 2,000 Guineas. In the King’s Stand Stakes look no further than Fleeting Spirit for a sprint success.

On June 18 there’s a fascinating tussle in store for the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes with Ireland’s indomitable Duke Of Marmalade gaining the edge in the ante-post market over Godolphin’s peerless Ramonti and France’s progressive Sageburg. The latter looks a strong improver this season and might well be the type to give the French back-to-back victories here following Manduro’s sublime success twelve months ago.

The Ascot Gold Cup is Thursday’s highlight on June 19 and many will expect to see Yeats record a magnificent Gold Cup treble but at the advancing age of seven he will find time is against him and the French hotpot Coastal Path may well be the one to spoil the party. Unbeaten so far in a sparkling career, he should give Yeats the most to do in a tantalizing clash of the generations.

A maximum field should go to post for the Royal Hunt Cup also on the 19th and Luca Cumani’s Bankable looks a worthy if short-priced favourite. In a race that is more open than the betting currently suggests I also like the look of Al Khaleej and Artimino, who both have the necessary lightning pace that usually characterizes a Hunt Cup hero.

Friday’s action on June 20 features the Group 1 Coronation Stakes over a mile for the fillies and James Fanshawe’s Spacious is a strong fancy in the likely absence of Natagora. Fanshawe’s 1,000 Guineas runner-up will be a better horse at the Royal meeting and looks the one for the fillies’ prize. On June 21, the Royal meeting’s closing day, Ask has an ideal opportunity to land the Hardwicke Stakes once more for Sir Michael Stoute while Sakhee’s Secret looks a very strong fancy for the Golden Jubilee Stakes as long as the ground rides fast.

June’s thrilling action isn’t over with Royal Ascot because Newcastle brings the curtain down on a magical month with the Northumberland Plate on June 28 where Double Banded and Nosferatu could figure among the leading fancies while the Irish Derby on June 29 caps an unsurpassable month for punters. In the latter race Casual Conquest could well land the spoils especially if he has bypassed Epsom for a tilt at the Irish classic.

Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips

Archive May 2008