Sport is made for betting

Three days down, two to go. Is anyone in front? Excellent work if you are. Friday's card isn't any easier but it kicks off with another juvenile race, this time for the fillies. Making his first appearance for the week is the talented Mark Rowntree, @uptheirons007 . Read more of his work on his blog . ---------------------- Albany Stakes Preview – Royal Ascot 21st June 2013 Day Four of the Royal meeting commences with the 12th running of the Group 3 Albany Stakes for Fillies over Six Furlongs. Twenty fillies head to post aiming to add their name to a roll of honour which includes Cuis Ghaire (2008), Memory (2010) and Newfangled (2012). Footstepsinthesand filly Sandiva provides the obvious starting point. The Chestnut filly remains unbeaten after two career starts, with her success in the Listed Coolmore Stud Stakes at Naas earmarking her as an exciting prospect. A half-sister to Wentworth, she’s already made the headlines this week, having being purchased by Qatari based...

Time for me to step in again for one of the bigger juvenile races. Nice race this, quite a few with a decent chance. ------------------ Norfolk Stakes Ambiance - last start win at Ripon didn't look overly special, I doubt we'll be seeing too many of those rivals in championship races in the future. The one thing that I am wary of though is he started at 3/1 on debut behind Championship, a well-regarded Hannon colt, who was right in the market in the Coventry, and there were several others from decent stables in that field. Thus he must have been showing a bit on the gallops at some stage. He's been seen in public twice, around 50 on Betfair, prepared to risk him. Coach House - odds-on at all three starts, won a Listed race at The Curragh last time beating Club Wexford who ran third behind Stubbs and Sacha Park the start after, both of whom failed to trouble the bookies on Tuesday. Win was OK but wasn't bolting clear, did it on a good-to-firm track. Where does he...

Royal Ascot tradition is to end the day with a bloody impossible handicap. No change here then..... Putting a bit more effort in than most of us last gasp dart-throwers in Sam Preen, @sampreen , whose work can also found on his blog ----------------------- KING GEORGE V STAKES (5:35 ROYAL ASCOT – THURSDAY) · Ah, another big field handicap to end the day. A field of 19 runners line up to tackle the contest, and here is the rundown… Cap O’Rushes First up is Godolphin’s second string, who ran a respectable race in defeat at Newbury in a minor event on his first start at 3 in April. He’s bred to stay this far, and he’s one that should improve in time, but he will need to improve further to land this on another step up in trip. Excellent Result Finally got off the mark on his fourth start after a pleasing third on his debut last September, running out a very easy winner at Sandown in a maiden last month, dropping down to Class 5. That was a great effort for such a weak race, bu...

Tomorrow's feature mightn't have the superstar like Yeats going for yet another win in the race but it is a seriously good contest with plenty of chances. Weight-for-age championship races aren't supposed to be like this! Saddling up for another crack at a Royal Ascot feature is Calum Madell, @calummadell . Read more of his work on his blog, TheYoungRacegoer . ---------------------- Gold Cup A really competitive Ascot Gold Cup this year and a big field for once. Rain is a strong possibility tomorrow so that must come into consideration when thinking of all bets tomorrow. Leading the way at the head of the market is Estimate who of course would be a fairytale winner for her Majesty the Queen and this progressive four-year-old deserves to be at the head of the market. Shee won at the meeting last year in an admittedly very poor Queen’s Vase and though she was held twice behind Wild Coco after that, she looked to have improved significantly over the winter and readily...

The Hampton Court or Tercentenary Stakes has always been a decent race, but restricted to those yet to win at G1 or G2 level. Quite a handy field here over the 1m2f trip - I'd be taking evens that at least three of these colts will be racing in Australia or Hong Kong next year. Time again to bring back William Kedjanyi, @keejayov , to analyse this contest. He's a prolific multi-sports blogger like me, check out more of his work on his blog . --------------------------- 5.00 Royal Ascot (Day 3, Race 5) Tercentenary Stakes (Formerly The Hampton Court Stakes) (Group 3) (Class 1) (3YO only) 1m2f Winner £42,532 Chopin: Entered Derby reckoning when romping to nine length Group 3 win on return at Krefield, and ran well for a long way in Derby, looking as if he would take hand before failing for stamina late on (suffered cut to his behind and not the best of runs); Should relish this drop in trip and go well even under 4lbs penalty. Centurius: Form of Nottingha...

The time-honoured Royal Hunt Cup is close to the toughest race of the week to single out a bet and a winner. Good luck if you can find it by solely weeding through the form. Dave McAulay, @formbet , prefers the trends approach. Read more of his work on the Formbet site . ------------------ Royal Hunt Cup I actually wanted some confirmation from another alternative, non-ratings angle to give a secondary bet in this race as it’s a bloody minefield without a method to use! Forget ‘form’ analysis in this size field, you will tie yourself in total knots. If you haven’t yet availed yourself of the wonderful historical trends that are posted on the Racecaller forum I suggest you do so now and get stuck in to the data and perform your own trends analysis. I thought I would put up my own method of performing trends analysis which has nailed many big-priced winners over the last few years including three of the last four Irish Grand National winners at 33/1, 40/1 and 50/1 – not bad for a ...

The Prince of Wales might have the star billing for Wednesday but the fillies' and mares' Group 2 is a quality contest. Not the easiest one to assess though, so in comes regular contributor Jon da Silva, @creamontop to dissect the formlines. --------------------- Duke of Cambridge Stakes Don't know about you but the decision to rename the Windsor Forest after her vapid grandson must be one of Her Majesty's worst. Despite not having sponsored races and hence decent race titles like "The Kentucky Derby presented by Yum Brands" Ascot does attract some of the best horses from around the world. Of course this race has not as it's worth 77 grand in a currency that's dipped 40% against the Yuan in five years and is a Group 2. No mares have penalties for winning Group 1s or 2s since late last year by the way. Beatrice Aurora 25/1 Fifth in this last year and consistently Group 3 level. Has Frankie and finished last on reappearance at the tricky Epsom. H...

Just the solitary Group I race on Wednesday at Royal Ascot, offering last year's champion three year old the chance to restore his reputation. Taking up the reins again is David Haddrell, @davidhaddrell , who appears courtesy of Star Sports . --------------------- Prince of Wales Stakes Wednesday's feature race is the Prince of Wales Stakes run over 1m2f. This has seen some exciting finishes over the years with some varied winners and this year sees a real mix of runners representing different form. As usual, I'll skip through the field one by one.... 1. Afsare - Not seen since just getting touched off in the Arlington Million last summer. He has his ideal conditions regarding the trip and ground but he's still only won a listed race so pitching him in at the top level on his first run of the year looks ambitious. 2. Al Kazeem - Roger Charlton's colt has proven a revelation in his last three runs, finally winning at the highest level when beating Camelot...

Last but not least for day one is the opening race on the card, the Queen Anne Stakes. This is the race which made everyone's jaw drop last year when the mighty Frankel simply destroyed the field, blowing the Frankel v Black Caviar argument out of the water. I was with an Aussie tour group in the Furlong Club last year and everyone was speechless when he careered away. Onto this year's race.... I did have another preview lined up but I believe that writer has since deposited his laptop in the nearest river after being beset by virus woes. However you won't lose anything by reading the late replacement. William Kedjanyi, @keejayOV , writes an excellent blog covering several sports and this is an excellent preview of a very alluring race. Read more of his work here . ---------------------- Royal Ascot 2013 - Queen Anne Stakes 2.30 Ascot Queen Anne Stakes (British Champions Series) (Group 1) (Str) (Class 1) (4YO plus) Winner £198,485 Aljamaaheer: Built on promisin...