Here are five horses to watch out for on Thursday at Royal Ascot:
Log Out Island — Norfolk Stakes
Richard Hannon has two of the fastest juveniles in Britain in Log Out Island and King Of Rooks. Log Out Island has been bought by Godolphin, while King Of Rooks has been snapped up by Qatar’s Al Shaqab. Log Out Island looks on paper the better of the two.
Maftool — Tercentenary Stakes
His duels with Mubtaahij at Meydan seem so long ago. Maftool was 14th of 18 in the French 2,000 Guineas on his return to Europe. Quite what we can expect today is anybody’s guess, but he has turf form from last season at Newmarket.
Pleascach — Ribblesdale Stakes
Godolphin have already got off the mark this week with one of their new acquisitions when Buratino won the Coventry Stakes on Tuesday for Mark Johnston. The Dubai-based operation have bought into Jim Bolger’s Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Pleascach, who gets in to this Group 2 race for fillies without her Group 1 penalty.
Scotland – Ascot Gold Cup
Scottish entrepreneur Dr Jim Hay is well-known in Dubai and horses in the name of his wife, Fitri, have been a mainstay at Meydan over the years. Scotland has been crying out for a step up to the Gold Cup’s marathon distance and looks an outsider who could run very well. Interestingly, the Hays also run Scottish in the King George V Stakes.
Forgotten Rules — Ascot Gold Cup
Much like yesterday’s Free Eagle, Dermot Weld pitches up with a lightly raced favourite for the feature race of the day. Forgotten Rules is unbeaten in four starts, but prefers soft ground. With rain forecast overnight the heavens may have opened enough by race time for the five-year-old gelding to take his chance.
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