2020 Royal Ascot Day One Tips – Tips for every race on the opening Tuesday

We provide you with our Royal Ascot Day One Tips, covering all seven races at Ascot on Tuesday 16th June.

Things may be a little different in 2020, with no fans being allowed to enter the race track, but Royal Ascot still promises to be as exciting as ever. Two Group Ones feature on day ones card, with the Ribblesdale and King Edward VII Stakes also taking place, after they were moved back from day four.

I’ve taken a look through the betting for all seven races at Ascot on Tuesday to provide you with my best bets!

A middle to high draw is often favored over the straight seven furlongs at Ascot, and there seems to be a great deal of pace on that side of the draw. It’s easy to see why Frankie Dettori’s mount, Daarik has been backed into favouritism, but I’m going to take him on with a couple of each-way shots.

The first of those being KAESO, who’s secured several excellent placed results in big handicap over course-and-distance. Nigel Tinkler’s stable star finished a very close third to Cape Byron in last year’s Victoria Cup, and went down by just a neck to Raising Sand in the Gigaset International. Drawn in 13, Oisin Murphy should be able to latch onto the pace quite comfortably, giving Kaeso an excellent chance.

I’m also going to back MOTAKHAYYEL, who’s been drawn down on the stand’s side rail in gate 26. Richard Hannon’s four-year-old ran up to a high level when winning a handicap at the July Meeting last year. Motakhayyel was then well beaten in the Porsche Handicap over a mile here at Ascot, but the soft ground really wasn’t too his liking that day. Some may say the ground has gone against Motakhayyel again this morning, but I still think Jim Crowley’s mount could be really dangerous back down over seven furlongs.

Check out my full preview of the 2020 Queen Anne Stakes to see which two entrants I fancy to go well at lengthy each-way prices.

If you’re looking to stream the race live on your mobile or tablet, take a look at our Queen Anne Stakes Live Streaming page.

The next two races on the card will pose as key trials for the Epsom Derby and the Epsom Oaks, which will be run during the first week of July in 2020. One who will certainly have aspirations for the Oaks is FRANKLY DARLING, and the fact that Frankie Dettori has chosen to ride her over Lingfield Trial winner, Miss Yoda must be taken as a huge positive.

Having run just once at two, Frankly Darling was heavily backed to win the day racing resumed at Newcastle. Rab Havlin’s mount cruised through that ten-furlong maiden, stretching clear in the closing stages to eventually win by five lengths. This beautifully bred daughter of Frankel looks a very good bet to continue on her steep upward curve and hand Dettori his first winner at 2020 Royal Ascot.

I backed Mogul to win the Derby at the end of the 2019 season, so I would love to see Aidan O’Brien’s colt make a winning reappearance here. That being said, Aidan O’Brien’s best horses don’t always perform to their best first time out and he may not be fully wound-up. With that in mind, it could be worth taking Mogul on with stablemate, ARTHUR’S KINGDOM.

After two runner-up finishes in maidens, Arthur’s Kingdom won well on heavy ground at Gowran Park in October. O’Brien’s colt then finished second in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud, losing to favourite Mkfancy by three lengths. Now, the form of that Group One hasn’t worked out well at all so far this season, but this son of Camelot has the profile of a big improver and Frankie Dettori would love to ride a Royal Ascot winner for Aidan O’Brien.

Read my full preview of the 2020 King’s Stand Stakes to see if I think it’s worth siding against hot-favourite Battaash.

If you’re looking to stream the race live on your mobile or tablet, then check out our King's Stand Stakes Live Streaming page.

Jubiloso has been well-backed since Teddy Grimthorpe said she was working especially well at home, where he appeared on ITV Racing over the weekend. My preference, however, is for Sir Michael Stoute’s supposed second-string, QUEEN POWER.

Although Terebellum proved a little too classy on the day, I thought Queen Power ran really well on her reappearance in the Dahlia Stakes, staying on powerfully to finish second ahead of Magic Lilly. Silvestre De Sousa’s mount spent the majority of last season running over 10 and 12 furlongs, but I always felt a strongly run mile on a testing track would be right up Queen Power’s street, and she’s run well here at Ascot in the past.

Horses with National Hunt racing experience have done especially well in this marathon of a handicap in recent seasons. With four-time winner, Willie Mullins out of the picture, I think it could be Nicky Henderson’s turn to celebrate his second triumph in this race, as VERDANA BLUE looks very hard to oppose at the top of the market.

Nicky Henderson’s mare is a Grade One winning hurdler, rated 162 over obstacles. The fact she only ran once last season doesn’t bother me, as Verdana Blue goes very well fresh and, although the going says good-to-soft, she'll handle it just fine. She looks chucked in off a lowly flat-mark of just 100 and Ryan Moore could be celebrating his fourth winner in the last nine seasons.

As there are 20 runners in the final field, most of which sit at very appealing prices, I’m inclined to have a second punt in day one’s final race. One who looks overpriced is QULOOB, for Jim Crowley and Gary Moore. Quloob finished third in two novice-hurdles last season. Prior to that, he had maintained a solid level of form on the flat, running up to RPR in the mid-90s on a number of occasions. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Quloob run beyond his odds, but Verdana Blue has to be the best bet.