Royal Ascot comes to its crescendo on Saturday afternoon with the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes the feature on a seven-race card at the famous Berkshire layout.
The headline act on Saturday comes in the big race, where the fastest sprinters in the world will compete, and there are horses from France and Japan to take on the best of British.
They go at Royal Ascot from 2.30pm-6.10pm and the feature contest goes off at 3.40pm. Our racing expert has picked out three horses to follow on day five of Royal Ascot.
Tip 1: Al Riffa (Hardwicke Stakes, Ascot 15:05) @ 5/1
Rebel’s Romance will be difficult to beat here after his hard fought victory in the Yorkshire Cup, but he is by no means a certainty and AL RIFFA is capable of upsetting the favourite. Al Riffa was an impressive winner of the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegaren in Germany last season over this 1m4f trip and went off a single-figure price to land the Arc at Longchamp on his final start. He was beaten 11 lengths by Bluestocking and never got in it.
However, he has returned this season with two superb efforts. He was beaten only two and a quarter lengths into third behind Shin Emperor in Saudi Arabia in February and was just three lengths away from Arc hotpot Sosie when last seen in the Prix Ganay at Longchamp. Those runs were over shorter than this trip, but the return to 1m4f promises to suit Al Riffa and a reproduction of his fourth in the Ganay might be good enough at this longer distance.
Tip 2: Marvelman (Jersey Stakes, Ascot 16:20) @ 11/2
The best bet on the card is MARVELMAN, who has steadily progressive form for Andrew Balding and produced his best run yet when second in a Listed race at Newmarket last time.
Marvelman was ultimately no match for the impressive winner Cosmic Year, but there was no disgrace in that. Cosmic Year went on to chase home Field Of Gold in the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh and beat the remainder soundly, so is a Group 1 calibre horse.
The third, Diego Ventura, has since won a Listed race at Longchamp and sixth-placed Symbol Of Honour has scored twice subsequently. He won a Listed race at Newbury and was successful in Group 2 company at Haydock, so the Newmarket form is clearly red hot. There should be more to come from Marvelman and trainer Andrew Balding saddled Symbolize to finish third in this race five years ago.
Tip 3: Samui (Queen Alexandra Stakes, Ascot 18:10) @ 5/1
The Queen Alexandra Stakes brings the curtain down on the week and it’s the longest race in the British calendar, so it should pay to stick with the recognised jumps trainers. The Willie Mullins-trained Sober will be popular, but the better bet might be Gordon Elliott’s SAMUI. He finished third in the Copper Horse Stakes here on Tuesday and is bang in form.
That was a red-hot race won by Group-class performer French Master in one of the best times of the week, and Samui finished three lengths behind the well-handicapped winner. That is among the best form on offer and he should have no problem turning out quickly.
Elliott won this race in 2016 with Commissioned and had Pallasator win in 2018 and finish second the following year. He can improve on that already impressive record with Samui.
