Ben Curtis – Ascot Rides
Saturday we head to Ascot where there is a fantastic card of Racing and it’s Qipco Champions Day. I was offered the ride on Kynren who has won down there on what is going to be slow ground, won over course and distance, we made the decision knowing that spare rides were going to be hard to find. It’s Group 1 and 2 races and the horses running have been ridden by the same jockey all year, so it’s one of the big days in the calendar and you need to be there. We committed early and happy with that decision. Looking forward to a Saturdays’ racing.
SATURDAY
Ascot 1:20
Stradivarius is your favourite and so he should be with a rating of 125.His rating puts him 8lbs clear of the next horse who is Sovereign and that is the horse I am going to throw in as I think Stradivarius can win providing the Arc didn’t take too much out of him. So he is the one to beat, but Sovereign is the biggest price of the Aidan O’Brien runners. Ran a close 2nd to Enable at Ascot, but then ran below par at the Curragh. A couple who finished ahead on the day are priced up because they beat this horse, but you can put a line through that run for Sovereign and the horse could be the one to give Stradivarius a run for the money or chase him home.
Ascot 1:55
Next up is the Qipco sprint over 6 furlongs and Dreams of Dreams couldn’t have been any more impressive on his last two occasions. He is rightly going to go into this as favourite but has been beaten plenty of times at Ascot and I think he can be opposable. Oxted will be fancied but you could also pick holes in him. He looks a quick horse, but the track will be different as he has won at Newmarket and Doncaster which are easy tracks. So I think soft ground and a hill could be his undoing, so I am actually going to pitch in a horse called Art Power. I know he was run off his feet in the Nunthorpe, but has won at Ascot and won well at Royal Ascot over course and distance and at a bigger price could be the one to get the job done. He is a horse I have always liked and think this could be his day.
Ascot 2:30
This race is a filly’s race over a mile and a half. There is one mare I would love to see win this and that’s Dame Malliot. Hollie Doyle has had a few great years and would be fitting for her to head into the end of the turf season with her first Group 1. This mare has done nothing wrong and she and Hollie have a good bond and the trip will be no problem. She is a little bit tricky to ride, but Hollie knows how to get a tune out of her so I think on form and figures with the conditions Dame Malliot would be my pick and there would be no better way that for Hollie to end the turf season with a Group 1 race win.
Ascot 3:05
Next up is the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Group 1 over 1 mile and Palace Pier is going to take all the beating. He is a horse that actually beat me in a handicap at Newcastle on his first run this year. I thought I had the race there for the win until this horse came past me. He then went into Group 1 company and won, then won again. He is lightly raced and lightly to progress further and with Frankie on board should get the job done.
Ascot 3:40
The last Group 1 on the day is the Qipco Champions Stakes, it’s over a mile and a quarter and I look anywhere further than the ultra-consistent Magical. She has done nothing wrong, her form is rock solid and she is a horse that people love. She wears hear heart on her sleeve and give everything all the time and should round out the Group 1’s for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore. I think she will do the business and I hope she does as Racing needs horses like her.
Ascot 4:15 – Kynren
I ride Kynren in the last race on the day at Ascot on Champions Day. He is a horse who has been in so there and done it. He will love the ground and been running of an inadequate trip over six furlongs. He ran a solid race over that trip at Ayr. He got behind at York never really showed up but he is back at the track her loves and conditions will suit, so I go down there with a nice ride and he knows how to win so fingers crossed he put his best foot forward and if he does and brings his ‘A’ game we will be right there at the finish.
