‘I wouldn’t swap our filly’ – Roger Varian ready to unleash his Royal Ascot ace

Royal Ascot is a week or so away and trainers will be putting the final touches to their preparations. Roger Varian is excited about unleashing one horse in particular and she’s worth looking out for. The horse in question runs in the Coronation Stakes which is shaping up to be a red-hot renewal. Newmarket-based Varian is unperturbed however and firmly believes his runner will come out on top. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

‘We were delighted with her’

Elmalka is the horse in question and she caused a bit of a shock when winning the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. Connections decided to swerve the Irish equivalent and this race has always been the plan since. Winning the Guineas at odds of 28/1, the cat is now out of the bag and there’s little chance of getting similar odds at Ascot.

Varian remains full of confidence and is understandably expecting further improvement from his very lightly raced three-year-old. He said: “We were delighted with her win in the 1,000 Guineas. She took her time to warm into it before finishing strongly and you’d hope there would be some improvement to come. We’ve given her plenty of time since and she’s been trained for the Coronation Stakes. It’s going to be a hell of a race, but I don’t think I’d swap our filly at the moment.”

‘She looks more complete’

That was just her third career start and she is sure yo have learnt plenty from the experience. Her trainer added: “She’s laid-back in her work, but she looks more complete and has a wonderful mind. It will be her first time going right-handed around a bend, but I don’t think that will be a problem, plus I think she’s versatile from a tactical point of view.”

If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.