2022 Royal Ascot Tips - Best bets for every race on day five

For the final time this week, let's jump into our Royal Ascot day five selections.

Alfred Munnings jumped to the head of the betting for next year's 2000 Guineas and Epsom Derby following an impressive debut win at Leopardstown. Aidan O'Brien's colt could simply be far too good for this field, but at his current price of 8/11, I'd rather look for an each-way alternative.

John O'Donoghue sends PEARLING PATH over from Ireland, on the back of a taking maiden victory at Fairyhouse. 

O'Donoghue's filly played up before her debut run at the Curragh and couldn't settle in the stalls, antics which later came back to haunt Pearling Path as she faded back to fifth. Gary Halpin's mount was much more settled last time out, tracking the leader on the rail before kicking clear to win by over a length.

Pearling Path should take this step up to seven furlongs in her stride and David Egan comes in for the ride. The battle for the places behind the hot favourite is wide open and Pearling Path holds plenty of appeal at 33/1.

Jim Crowley may have chosen to ride the unbeaten Monaadah, but I'd much rather side with ALFLAILA, who returned to action with an almighty bang here at Ascot last month.

Owen Burrows' charge, who placed in several valuable juvenile races last season, was forced to carry top-weight into what looked a hugely competitive handicap over course and distance. Dane O'Neill asked his mount for an effort at the two-pole and Alflaila quickly put three lengths between himself and the chasing pack, clocking a superb RPR of 113. 

This son of Dark Angel proved he has progressed greatly between two and three and the form of that Ascot handicap has worked out well. The Jersey has clearly been the plan since then and a reproduction of that reappearance run would see Alflaila go close.

I'm not usually in the business of backing odds-on favourites, but I will make an exception for HURRICANE LANE, who should take the world of beating on his seasonal reappearance.

Charlie Appleby's charge progressed brilliantly in 2021. Hurricane Lane followed a third-place finish in the Epsom Derby with a hard-fought victory in the Irish equivalent. William Buick's mount then won the Grand Prix de Paris and the St Leger, before rounding off his three-year-old campaign with a third-place finish in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Following a hard season, Appleby decided to give his star an extended winter break. The team are working backwards from the Arc and Britain's Champion Trainer is fantastic at getting a horse ready to win first time out. 

Hurricane Lane won more Group Ones in a ten-week stretch last season than the rest of this field have managed in their entire careers. Given his superiority, 8/11 isn't a terrible price.

Read our full guide to the 2022 Platinum Jubilee Stakes to find out which two runners we've backed at massive prices.

If you plan on watching any of Saturday's races via a mobile or tablet, then take a look at our Platinum Jubilee Stakes Live Stream page.

11 of the last 12 winners of this historic handicap were drawn in stall ten or wider. That being said, draw bias stats haven't been particularly useful so far this week, as the stand's side - which is usually the fastest part of the straight track - has yielded very few winners.

The first runner I want to back is FIRST FOLIO, who beat favourite Blackrod on fast ground at York back in June.

After finishing fourth behind the market leader from a wide draw on his return to action at Newmarket, James Ferguson's sprinter stayed on from the rear to finish second in a Listed contest at Windsor last time out. The handicapper has only upped First Folio's rating two pounds for that strong effort and Danny Muscutt's mount should be a big player in this handicap off a mark of 99.

I'm also going to have another punt on LAMPANG, who was one of my selections when he was tenth in this race 12 months ago, finishing second in the group of nine that stuck to the stand's rail.

After results dipped dramatically, Tim Easterby's sprinter underwent a gelding operation in the autumn. That procedure seems to have worked based on Lampang's reappearance win at Ayr, where Paul Hanagan's mount settled and travelled beautifully on the shoulder of the pack, before stretching clear to win by over a length.

The handicapper may have pushed Lampang's mark back up to 101 from 97, but Easterby's five-year-old enters the Wokingham rated four pounds lower than last year. James McDonald, who's won on Nature Strip and Dark Shift this week, takes the ride and I wouldn't be surprised to see Lampang challenge for the win.

There seems to be plenty of potential pacesetters in this field. Therefore, I'm looking for a strong stayer to come from off the pace, ideally from a wide draw.

Missed The Cut would certainly fit that profile. The one I like most, though, is the fourth of the Godolphin runners, FALLING SHADOW for Charlie Appleby and William Buick.

Falling Shadow powered home to win convincingly at Wolverhampton last season, only to be disqualified after his post-race sample returned a banned substance. Buick's mount claimed his first official win on his reappearance at Newbury, running up to an RPR of 92 without really breaking a sweat.

Appleby's three-year-old now makes his handicap debut off an official mark of 92. I'm confident that Falling Shadow will prove himself much better than that opening rating in the coming weeks and months.

The value bet in Saturday's finale has to be CALLING THE WIND, who went off at 40/1 when he finished second to Stratum in this race 12 months ago.

Richard Hughes' star followed up at Glorious Goodwood, beating Withhold in the two-and-a-half-mile Goodwood Handicap. Calling The Wind rounded off an excellent 2021 campaign by finishing third in the Cesarewitch and second in the November Handicap at Doncaster.

This season, Hughes' six-year-old has run reasonably well in two good-quality 12-furlong contests. Calling The Wind returns to the Queen Alexandra Stakes a ten-pound better horse, so who's to say he won't go one better this time around?