Racing Tips: Can Crystal Ocean make waves in the King George?
Published:
Saturday racing tips and preview
Glorious Goodwood may be just around the corner, but it’s the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes that take centre stage at Ascot this afternoon.
Poet’s Word, Cracksman and Crystal Ocean are all vying for favouritism ahead of the 1m 4f Group 1 contest. You can check out a runner-by-runner guide for that contest here.
Speculative punters can also enjoy three contests from York alongside the Ascot action on another packed afternoon of racing on ITV today. Check out what the Coral News Team thinks of it all below.
There’s a case to be made for over half the field in this year’s King George. But it’s Crystal Ocean who gets the nod from us. Sir Michael Stoute’s charge comes into this off a hat-trick of wins, most recently in the Hardwicke Stakes over course and distance. He couldn’t have looked much more like a future King George winner when landing the spoils that day.
His form is franked by last year’s St Leger, with Stradivarius, Rekindling and Coronet all going on to subsequently take top quality prizes. The four-year-old colt has to step it up again here, but the Coral News Team has every faith he’ll be able to do just that.
Coral ambassador Jim Crowley confessed to being uber-confident of Elarqam’s chances in his blog yesterday. And it’s easy to see why. The three-year-old still has plenty of improvement in him and can bounce back from tough runs in both the English and Irish 2,000 Guineas here.
Mark Johnston’s raider wasn’t beaten particularly badly in either, while the step up to 1m 2f should also help the Frankel colt. Prospective punters will be hoping the weather holds out for the Tattersalls Stakes winner, who looks set to go off as favourite.
The gamble landed on big-price ante-post shot Ginger Nut last week in the Weatherbys Super Sprint. The Coral News Team are hoping a similar scenario unfolds for Oh This Is Us in the International Stakes later this afternoon.
Richard Hannon’s fancy is a nice chunky price thanks to his 113 rating. That’s undoubtedly an issue. But a good book of form is enough to mark him out as a solid each-way contender. Victory at Chester last time out was his second in Listed company, and he also boasts experience of winning big-runner handicaps. Connections have opted to run him here rather than at Goodwod, which suggests they’re reasonably confident of his chances.
It won’t be easy for the five-year-old with a 3lb penalty to boot. But with jockey and trainer in decent form, it’s a gamble we’re prepared to take.
ITV Racing Tips:
1:50 Ascot – Royal Intervention
2:05 York – Get Knotted
2:25 Ascot – Corrosive
2:40 York– Foolad (each-way)
3:00 Ascot – Oh This Is Us (each-way)
3:15 York – Elarqam
3:40 Ascot – Crystal Ocean
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
