4:05 Ascot Tips

Ombudsman was impressive last time at York in comfortably reversing the form with Delacroix and he had the Arc winner Daryz last of 6 runners. He has become a ten furlong specialist and has a record of six wins and two 2nd places from his eight runs.

The King George winner is unlikely to be inconvenienced by a drop back to 1m2f with his electrifying turn of foot. With the favourite employing a pacemaker, I expect the French raider to come fast and late.

It has to be significant the sporting owners give this a crack and with the ground probably going to be decent this could come down to the winner being the one with the best turn of foot. Step forward Delacroix whose win last time from last year's shock winner of this race Anmaat was most impressive. Has to find a tad more improvement to beat his elders but to my eye is a special horse over a stiff 10f and it is hard to forget his Coral Eclipse win, when gunning down Ombudsman late on, suggesting a stiffer test will suit. Pacemakers hold the key and if it's a crawl and they're in a heap his turn of foot may well win it and if the go off too quick he can stalk Ombudsman and pounce once again to go 2-1 up. Price is becoming very generous too and I think he'll win this, as looks back to his best and can be forgiven his run at York behind his old rival on that sharper track. NAP!

Another predictably fascinating clash with a foreseeable shootout between the three big boys in the market. But the three of them are pushing some excellent horses out to fascinating prices, and none more so than Almeric, who takes a long-awaited step up in class here after a setback earlier in the season. The ground is perhaps a worry as he’d probably prefer it softer, but his grandma coped with it, so it shouldn't dissuade connections from rolling the dice. He rather missed the kick on his return, so it was all the more impressive that he came from last to first in the straight, having circled most of the field. He won going away there, and you can wager he’ll kick on for that too. Pace-wise, it’s a struggle, with possibly a couple of pace makers in there, and in Devils Advocate and Kilimanjaro making this a bit of a muddle. But with added stamina in this one’s pedigree, I’d hope he’ll stay this stiff test regardless if he’s not taken off his feet early.

Has been off with issues this past year, having bled on his last run. But at his best, he could trouble these. Was always the type to do better as a 4-year-old, though he is playing catch up now. Each-way chance with stable flying.

With the top 3 in the betting attracting all the money, it leaves some value elsewhere. Almaqam could be overpriced for each way betting purposes. Looks to have been kept for an autumn campaign and beat Ombudsman back in May. Although 3lb worse off with that improver, he can run well at a nice price if any of the top 3 run under par.

Fox Legacy has three wins in his last four races, but seems to be moving up to race against better quality opposition in this race. So I will go each way here.

Mount Kilimanjaro and Delacroix will compete in this race, representing the A P O'Brien stable. There may be a difference in their abilities, with Delacroix being slightly more successful recently, but the difference in odds from bookmakers is simply striking. The odds for Mount Kilimanjaro to win are 200/1, which is greatly overestimated. Mount Kilimanjaro has an excellent pedigree; his sire is Siyouni. In principle, it would not be a surprise to me if such a small EW bet paid off.