Hugo Palmer Royal Ascot day one runners blog: 'he has a much better chance than the odds suggest'
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Hugo Palmer has two runners on day one of Royal Ascot 2025, and the leading trainer previews them both in his latest exclusive Coral blog.
Hugo Palmer Royal Ascot day one runners blog
Ascot 3.05 – Tricky Tel
The first thing to say is I think Tricky Tel is a massive price! Of the 21 runners, only two of them, this horse and the well-fancied Military Code, have run more than once and are unbeaten. I think we all know how important that second run is coming to this meeting, and lots of the fancied runners are coming here having had a single run.
We’ve liked our horse all along, and I really don’t think he could have done much more than he has. The two Chester races he's won this year were actually key pointers to last year's Coventry, and in the second of those races, he was drawn badly, pushed wide all the way, and still won well carrying a penalty.
I think this stiff, straight six furlongs will really suit him, and I think there is a lot more to come from him. We're drawn in stall one, which I suppose will either turn out to be a brilliant draw or a terrible draw, it’s slightly disappointing that the horses drawn around us aren’t the fancied runners, in betting terms anyway.
Our horse will have learned plenty running around a track like Chester though, so he should be able to break well, get a nice position, and hopefully travel strongly. It’s very exciting to be involved in a race like this, and as I said at the start, I think he’s got a much better chance than the betting implies.
Ascot 5.00 – Zoffee
Zoffee is in very good form, and his third place finish in the Chester Cup showed us he still has what it takes. Oisin Murphy will have to be clever from this draw, which can be key even over this long distance, but he’s riding brilliantly so we’ll leave it to him. I’m not convinced he stays this far, but that probably comes down to how the race unfolds, if Oisin can get a nice position, hopefully he will have enough left in the tank.
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