Ascot top racing tip: Ravens Ark should relish stiff stamina test
- Steve Jones
- 13 May 2023
Tipstrr racing pundit Steve Jones landed a second winner in three days on Friday, following up Wednesday’s 10/1 shot with Revich (9/2), and is looking for more of the same from Ascot’s opening race.
Ascot's combination of a testing track and testing ground (particularly for the half-mile or so rounding Swinley Bottom) presents a severe stamina test at the trip, so it is a good idea to focus on runners who have proven their stamina over further.
At the prices, a very attractive bet is Hughie Morrison's
Ravens Ark, who carries the least weight through these testing conditions and who has a very good record when fresh.
This looks like the time to catch him, not least because he won a 13-furlong handicap on his first outing of last season and he also won a 12-furlong handicap on his first turf run the year before.
Morrison has prepared two of his older horses to win first-time-out in recent days, so there is a very good chance that Ravens Ark will be primed for a big run on his return to action, as he usually is.
His best form of last season came in the early weeks, so this race has no doubt been targeted for his return to action. Off five pounds lower than he was last summer, Ravens Ark looks set for a big run for an in-form yard who are bringing out runners to win first-time back.
Suggested bet: Ravens Ark to win the 13:30 at Ascot
Of the others,
Sheer Rocks has always been very highly regarded and he was seen as a Pattern horse after winning the first two starts of his career.
Next best bet:
Sheer Rocks to win the 13:30 at Ascot
He finished a close third of 10 (beaten half a length) in a handicap over this very trip last August and he is a pound lower today. However, that was on much quicker ground than he is likely to encounter here, so it remains to be seen how he performs on a softer surface.
If he goes on it, he will be in with a decent chance because his trainer, who won this race with another four-year-old a few seasons back, has sent out four first-time-out winners in recent weeks and Charlie Bishop is two from three when riding Sheer Rocks.
