Horse Racing

Royal Ascot Hardwicke Stakes best bet: Free Wind can blow rivals away for Frankie Dettori

John FearnJohn Fearn24 June 2023
Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot

One of Royal Ascot's most competitive races, the eight high-class runners lining up for Hardwicke Stakes look sure to give us a race to remember.

16:20 Hardwicke Stakes (Group 2) (1 mile 4 furlongs)
Ryan Moore has won this race six times in the last 13 years, including last year on 6/1 shot Broome, and he rides another mid-market candidate here in the shape of Chairmanoftheboard.

Moore would love to be Royal Ascot's leading jockey, but he will have his work cut out to get the better of rival Frankie Dettori here, with the Italian looking to add the final day's feature race to the Gold Cup and Coronation Stakes that he landed on Thursday and Friday.

Of the 53 rivals that his ride Free Wind has lined up against across his seven turf outings, only one has finished ahead of him, and that was Golden Pass at the Newmarket July meeting in 2021.

Planet Sport Bet: Money Back if 2nd to SP Favourite in all Royal Ascot Races
His only run this year was at York 37 days ago when he finished half a length ahead of Rogue Millennium, who in turn franked that form by landing the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes here on Wednesday.

The York win was over a sharper 10-furlong trip, so this return to a mile and a half will suit even more, and with her three-pound allowance and the irrepressible Dettori on board, this mare is going to take all the beating.

Suggested bet: Free Wind each-way in the 16:20 at Royal Ascot

READ MORE: Royal Ascot: Find all the odds, tips, racecards and results on Planet Sport Bet's dedicated site

    Related News