25-1 for Royal Ascot will be long gone if this wins on Thursday

Trainers are creatures of habit. They have races that they target specifically with further races in mind. Spot these historical trends and you can get yourself ahead of the curve when the stars line up again.

At Sandown on Thursday evening, there is one that catches the eye. The Listed Heron Stakes is the feature on the card, won the last twice it has been run in 2018 and 2019 by the combination of John Gosden and Frankie Dettori.

On both occasions, that horse has gone on to Royal Ascot to run in the St James’s Palace Stakes. Without Parole would win the Group 1 while King Of Comedy was beaten just a neck by Circus Maximus. Gosden and Dettori team up once more in 2021 and ahead of Sandown, the horse can be backed at 25/1 for Royal Ascot. A price that will crash should they win again.

We will have free horse racing tips from the card on the site as well as from Lingfield, Market Rasen, Wolverhampton, Tipperary and Chelmsford. A busy Thursday in prospect.

15th June – St James’s Palace Stakes

Mithras is the horse in question, the winner of a Newbury handicap last time out. That may not seem the most obvious stepping stone to a Group 1 at Royal Ascot but Gosden won that same race with Gregorian and Muwaary. They won that off 88 and 82, both sent to the French 2000 Guineas subsequently, finishing fourth and fifth.

It was a mark of 90 that Mithras won off so he is already a step ahead of that pair of former Gosden charges. He has been a slow maturing type, not winning until his third start, that at Newcastle. That is a track that Gosden has often used with his better types who need a run once the turf season is over, including Enable.

The step back up to a mile is a big plus for him and the runner-up at Newbury has since filled that same spot in a Group 3. That all suggests that this Listed prize is going to be well within his grasp  with his yards two prior winners 5/1 and 12/1 for Royal Ascot after winning this. A win at Sandown and his price looks set to halve in price from the 25/1 that is currently on offer.

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