Royal Ascot gets underway tomorrow (18 June) and William Hill’s Inside Track podcast returned to preview the five days of racing ahead.
Host Kate Tracey was joined by 20-time Champion Jockey, Sir AP McCoy, former jockey, Louis Steward and pundit, Nick Luck.
One of the races previewed was Wednesday’s Duke of Cambridge Stakes and the guests threw out several names as potential winners.
Steward and McCoy both suggested Rogue Millenium whereas Luck put his case forward for Breege being first past the post.
“The bookmakers took virtually no interest in Breege after she won the group three at Epsom saying she was lucky,” explained Luck. “I didn’t think she handled the track brilliantly but she still won. She’s got the form at Ascot, she was only just pipped in the Sandringham last year [and] she should’ve won that. Now she’s got her head in front I think she can start delivering the promise. She’s got a group three now and I don’t think it’s a stretch to see her being competitive in a group two.”
Moving on to day three, the guests looked ahead to the Gold Cup and McCoy suggested 20/1 shot Points Lonsdale as a potential outsider.
Kyprios is currently the favourite to win the race however none of the guests were convinced of his chance of victory with Trawlerman and Vauban mentioned as potential alternatives.
The final group one race of the meeting is the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes which the guests said is currently a wide-open race.
The merits of Shartash and Mitbaahy were discussed as potential winners however McCoy said that the race “could be run five times and five different horses would win it”.
To end the show each of the guests on the show offered up their best bet of the week.
Luck chose Believing each way in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and McCoy went for Opera Singer to win in the Coronation Cup which is currently at evens.
Steward’s Nap is Notable Speech in the St James Palace Stakes which he describes as his “certainty of the week” while host Kate Tracey chose White Birch to win the St James Palace Stakes however since the recording was released the horse has been withdrawn from the race due to an abnormal blood result.
Royal Ascot sign new media rights deals
Ahead of the start of the meet, Ascot Racecourse announced it had secured international distribution for this year’s event.
In the UK, Ascot renewed its partnership with ITV, which will provide coverage on ITV1 and ITV4.
Outside of the UK, Ascot’s international media partners for this year’s iteration of the event are extensive, with over 30 broadcasters set to provide coverage to over 180 territories across six continents.
In the US, NBC and its sports streaming service Peacock have been named broadcast partners. Rogers will provide coverage in Canada while ESPN and SportsMax will broadcast in Latin America and the Caribbean.
