Day Five

The final day of Royal Ascot starts with the Listed Chesham Stakes, a seven furlong contest for juveniles. It’s one of the weaker races in terms of class for the two-year-old generation, but the race is full of long-term prospects. Frankie Dettori and Aidan O’Brien both have four wins in the race, three of O’Brien’s in the last seven years.

Sir Michael Stoute has dominated the Hardwicke Stakes down the years so it’s no surprise that his Crystal Ocean leads the market in 2018. He has trained a remarkable ten winners of this mile and a half test, including seven of the last twelve. It’s all speed next up in the Windsor Castle Stakes over five furlongs, another Listed race for juveniles. It’s a race that has seen winners for Wesley Ward with a pair in the last decade, the only trainer to win this more than once in the last sixteen years.

The Diamond Jubilee Stakes is the feature on day five of Royal Ascot, a six furlong sprint. The Tin Man gave James Fanshawe his second win in the race in 2017 and will no doubt be one of those leading the charge once more this year after an impressive return to action at Windsor. He has three wins over this course and distance in six visits so always needs serious consideration when he pitches up at Ascot.

In line with the rest of the week, the big handicap comes up at 5.00pm, this time in the shape of the Wokingham Stakes. One of the best sprint handicaps of the season, it’s the kind of race that most punters love to get their teeth stuck into. Just a single winning favourite in the last twelve years, with four of those editions heading to a horse 20/1 or bigger.

Day five and the meeting as a whole concludes with the Queen Alexandra Stakes, the longest race of the meeting at a shade under two and three-quarter miles. Ryan Moore has closed out the week with three winners in the last seven runnings of the race, Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott winning three of the last six, with Nicky Henderson getting in on the jump trainers winning this race act in 2009.