Jamie Spencer has high hopes for Balios on Day Four at Royal Ascot
Published:I’m really looking forward to riding Ashadihan in the Albany Stakes. She has a good chance. Ideally I’d like a shower of rain to take the sting out of the ground. The Clerk of the Course is putting a bit of water on the course but that will dry up quickly. I can’t see anything stopping her running a really good race. She’s drawn OK. So we’ll just have to see.
In the King Edward VII I like my horse Balios a lot. Obviously we’ve got Stravagante and Festive Fare in there, and Ol Man River having another go. So it’s a tight race. I like my horse and I think he’ll put up a good showing. That second place doesn’t tell the whole story as he didn’t really handle Newmarket that well. He was travelling the best at the top of the hill, but when he got down into the dip he struggled and changed his legs a couple of times. It took him a good while to get balanced and he then ran on well. He did a nice bit of work last week. His lead horse that he picked up and passed, was the same lead horse that The Corsican worked with, and he beat him easier than The Corsican did. And The Corsican ran fourth in the Prince Of Wales. His work is really stepping up.
The Commonwealth Cup looks a good race. Five or six could win it. Tiggy Wiggy is one of them but I’m worried that the other horses have caught up with her and she doesn’t have the speed advantage that she did at two years. I like Adaay a lot as he’s stepped forward with every run this year. He got beat first time out, then won at Newbury and then stepped up again and beat Limato at Haydock. I don’t think Limato had any excuse. I feel Adaay has stepped up a gear where Limato has kind of stood still. You’ve got to put Anthem Alexander into the mix. And Frankie thinks Hootenanny is just going to bulldoze them. I spoke to him yesterday and he just thinks he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf by class rather than stamina and will win today so we shall see. My horse needs to find a lot. He needs to find around a stone to win this. He’s a nice horse and can win a Group 2 one day.
In the Coronation Stakes I think Lucida will be very hard to beat. She impressed me at Newmarket given the race didn’t go to plan. If she can get a nice position behind the leaders I can’t see her getting beaten.
In the 5.00 I ride Kelinni. He’s got a bit to find. He’s been a fun horse for the owners and hopefully it will be a nice day out, particularly if we can get in the places.
In the Queens Vase I like Bantry Bay with Joseph O’Brien. In his first start he ran into a strong headwind when beaten and then won back at a mile and a quarter at the Curragh. From what I’ve been told he’ll be hard to beat
