The Price Is Right: Back Boughey to make the breakthrough
Wed 17 Jun 2020
The Tote's Kevin O'Malley nominates a trio of possible longshots to look at when you make your selections for Day Two at Royal Ascot.
Royal Ascot is an ideal meeting to find underestimated horses running at big prices. Watch live streaming of the action when logged into your Tote account and with Tote Guarantee, you’ll never be paid out at less than SP on Win bets!
This Sea The Stars colt went off at big prices for his opening couple of starts, but early promise was on display second time up at Newmarket when he finished second in a good little race at 100/1.
On his final crack at landing a two-year-old maiden he bumped into Derby candidate Brentford Hope and finished a well-held third.
That was a mild step backwards from his second run but the form could work out well enough and he recorded a decent speed figure in defeat in any case.
First time out earlier this month, Arthurian Fable was somewhat unlucky not to get the better of Global Storm and the pair shot clear of the remainder in a good time. He remains on a mark of 81 for this step up to a mile and a half and I suspect there’s more to come from Brian Meehan’s charge.
Twenty-three (at the time of writing) head to post for the Royal Hunt Cup and any the majority of them could have a say in the finish.
But I can’t help but feel this race is set up for last year’s winner Afaak to repeat that success for Lambourn handler Charlie Hills. After recording a classy RPR of 113 in the race when landing the race from a handicap mark of 103, his 2019 form tapered off a bit.
His handicap mark has dropped a couple of pounds as a result and the 3lb claim of Cieren Fallon essentially puts him in with the same chance at the weights as 12 months ago.
Afaak is likely to sit behind the leaders and begin his move early. Indeed he was in front two furlongs out last year and only just managed to hold on. It’s difficult to get a handle on how this year's field compares in terms of quality, but it is fair to imagine the selection will be primed to stage a fair repeat of his career-best run here and that would obviously give him a very good chance of winning.
George Boughey is an up-and-coming trainer to take note of and he could make a big splash here. Surrounded by Ballydoyle and Wesley Ward horses it might be easy to get carried away by reputations rather than the actual form we have seen so far.
This Mehmas colt was nibbled at in the pre-race market before making his Newmarket debut on June 7 and he showed excellent speed for the majority of the race. The six-furlong trip there looked to just stretch him in the closing stages and this immediate drop to the minimum distance of five could be handsomely rewarded.
The excellent Ben Curtis keeps the ride and has all the skills required to strike here on the big stage. The pair recorded a promising time in defeat, conditions look sure to suit on this second outing and it would be little surprise if they put up a very bold show. What a place this would be to lose your maiden tag...
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