Coral Racing Ambassador, Hugo Palmer, previews his three runners on the final day of Royal Ascot, including two runners in the Wokingham Stakes.

17:05 Wokingham Stakes

Flaming Rib

Flaming Rib is one of two runners for us in the Wokingham, and he’s got a reasonable draw in the middle of the track in stall 16, so there should be no excuses from there. The ground at Ascot is very very fast, and although he’s won on quick ground before, he might just prefer a little bit more juice in it. Although he did disappoint us in this race last year, I do think Ascot suits him, and that’s underlined by the excellent performance he put in when second in the Commonwealth Cup here two years ago.

It’s a big field, and it’s a very competitive race, but if he can return to something like his best form, then he’d be extremely competitive off a mark of 102.

Roman Dragon

Roman Dragon was a reserve for this, but there is a non-runner in here, so he’ll get a run which is fantastic for his connections. He obviously tends to put up his best performances at Chester, and he did let us down a little bit at Hamilton last time, but prior to that he had been running well.

He performed very well on a straight track in Bahrain earlier in the year, so he can do it away from Chester, and Hayley Turner knows him well and has won on him a few times, so if he can run like he did over in Bahrain, then he could well be capable of outrunning his odds.

17:40 Golden Gates Stakes – Grey Cuban

Things just didn’t quite go to plan for Grey Cuban last time, and although he ran well to a point, I just don’t think he was in love with the track at Epsom that day. Ascot is obviously a more conventional track, and he seems in good form at home, so I’m hopeful we’ll see a return to form from him.

He does have a tricky draw in stall 1, so he’ll certainly need a lot of luck from there, but hopefully Hollie Doyle can get him into a good position, and he’s another who could perform better than his odds suggest.

Hugo Palmer, Coral Racing Ambassador