3:05 Royal Ascot Racing Tip (Tuesday 17th June) COVENTRY STAKES (Group 2) (CLASS 1) (2yo)

The Coventry Stakes Group 2 over 6f on good ground. Sixteen colts: all raced, victors bar one horse, three being multiple winners. A difficult race to assess. How do you limit a winning two-year-old juvenile? Three colts look the part in what should be a tantalizing renewal and a class field.  

Adaay is a good-looking son of Kodiac, who has been handled well by William Haggas, racing in the familiar blue and white silks of Hamdam Al Maktoun. This bay colt was purchased at the breeze-up sales for 240,000gns. He was fancied to go well on

Light set to shine in Ascot Gold Cup

If you believe in follow the market signals then there is only one horse you would want to back on Thursday 19^th June in the Ascot Gold Cup, and that is Leading Light, last year’s impressive Aidan O’Brien-trained St Leger winner, writes Elliot Slater.

The racing betting market has been all about the 2013 classic winner who saw off the classy Oaks winner Talent to score on Town Moor last September, having previously won over two miles at last year’s Royal Ascot fixture showing bags of stamina and a willing attitude to win on quick ground. Those attributes may very well stand him in good stead over the marathon two-and-a-half-mile trip of the showcase race at the wonderful five-day fixture that starts on June 17.

Prior to his seasonal reappearance at Navan last month Leading Light was available at up to 4/1 in the ante-post racing betting for the Gold Cup, but those odds quickly disappeared as the son of Montjeu delivered a commanding performance to easily account for previous Irish St Leger winner Royal Diamond by three lengths.

With the vibes coming out of Ballydoyle suggesting their stayer is doing everything right in his preparation for the big day, punters have well and truly latched on to Leading Light who has been forced down through all rates and is now a rock solid 13/8 market leader (with Bet365) to give O’Brien his five success in the race in the last eight years; four of those wins came with the mighty Yeats who landed the premier stayers’ contest four years in a row between 2006 – 2009.

If he does justify his lofty market position Leading Light will be seen by many as the potential villain of the piece if he lowers the colours of The Queen’s beloved filly Estimate, who brought the house down at Royal Ascot last year when giving her owner-breeder her first success in the race after more than half a century of trying to land the prize. Estimate has only had one run since then and that proved disappointing when she filled just seventh place behind Royal Diamond in the Group 3 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup in October.

A minor setback and being somewhat slower than usual to come to hand has caused the royal filly to be absent from racing so far this season, and while master trainer Sir Michael Stoute has admitted recently to feeling the pressure to have her ready to defend her crown reports suggest the five-year-old is working nicely again and should give a good account of herself.

Another popular horse who features prominently in the racing betting for the coveted Ascot Gold Cup is former England football legend Michael Owen’s home-bred Brown Panther, really impressive when slamming a field of useful stayers in the Group 3 Henry II Stakes at Sandown in May, whilst Marco Botti’s Tac De Boistron, winner of the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes at Ascot in April and a good runner-up since at York in the Yorkshire Cup, is another serious contender in what promises to be a tremendous contest.

Night Of Thunder Set To Take On Kingman Again

Night of Thunder goes into the St James’s Palace Stakes next looking to build on his victory in the 2000 Guineas where he had two future Classic winners in behind him in the form of Kingman and Australia.

Richard Hannon’s colt has not been seen since his success at Newmarket where he was the surprise 40/1 winner with Betfair for the opening Classic of the year. Despite drifting to the left of the course in the closing stages of the Guineas, he was able to get up by half a length under jockey Kieren Fallon.

Australia boosted the form of Night of Thunder when he won the Derby at Epsom at the weekend to the delight of Betfair backers.

The John Gosden trained Kingman was the horse who finished directly behind Night of Thunder on that mile contest and will get his opportunity to put the record straight in their rematch in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

It did not take Gosden’s runner long to make up for his 2000 Guineas defeat as he won the Irish equivalent at the Curragh a few of weeks later. On that occasion he went off as a warm favourite with Betfair at 4/5 in the betting. The soft to heavy ground did not prove to be a problem for the British horse as he scored by five lengths.

Ryan Moore has been confirmed as the jockey who will board Toormore. He opened up with a victory in the Craven Stakes at Newmarket when bearing The Grey Gatsby in the Group Three contest.

Toormore also lined up in the 2000 Guineas where he was disappointing in seventh place. That was the first defeat of the colt’s career after going through his two-year old campaign unbeaten. He is currently third best in the market for next week’s race.