Royal Ascot: Day two preview

This is the day where sheep-like punters hope to make a fortune at Royal Ascot. Bankable starts as the shortest-priced favourite for the Royal Hunt Cup (4.20pm) since Pall Mall in 1959, while Duke of Marmalade is a warm order for the Prince of Wales's Stakes (3.45pm).

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Both will be heavily supported, and if punters latch on to Heaven Sent in the Windsor Forest (3.05pm), and she wins, the bookmakers will have had a torrid time of it at the coal face.

The owners of Heaven Sent have won the Group 2 race twice in the four years it has graced Royal Ascot. The mare's trainer, Sir Michael Stoute, has also won the race twice (not the same horses) and as the two team up, it is not difficult to see why she is 5/2 favourite.

Bankable has virtually everything going for him in the Royal Hunt Cup. He is a stone well in, which means he is carrying weight that doesn't do his recent showings the justice it deserves, and he is versatile when it comes to going and tactics.

The only problem is his price. The last nine favourites of the 1m cavalry charge haven't even made the frame, while the last jolly to oblige was Yeast, who sluiced in under Kieren Fallon 12 years ago.

Bankable is certainly the best horse in the race, of that there is no question. But with 30 horses all busting down the straight mile, it surely has to be questionable whether he has a 33% chance of winning.

The other problem could be the draw. In the Queen Anne yesterday the jockeys drifted over to the stands side. It was the same story in the Coventry with Art Connoisseur and in the Windsor Castle where 100/1 shot Flashman's Papers popped up to win. If a 100/1 shot can win from the stands side, it must be quicker, better ground there. Bankable is drawn on the far side in berth 25, which makes things much more interesting when trying to oppose him. The trouble is, the horses who would form the cornerstone of our opposition are similarly badly drawn.

Oceana Gold is drawn beside the red-hot favourite and at around 25/1 looked worth a shot earlier on in the week. Sir Michael Stoute Lang Shining is also in the same position in stall 22. All in, it is difficult to find one in the right stall, with the right credentials, but who does look overpriced is Diamond Tycoon at 40/1. He was good enough to run within five and a half lengths of last year's 2,000 Guineas winner Cockney Rebel last year, and slammed Leger winner Lucarno and Cambridgeshire winner Pipedreamer at Newbury last season.

He carries a lot of weight, but at 10/1 a place, and down to fifth with some, I'd rather take the punt than invest in Bankable at 2/1.

Verdict: 1pt each-way Diamond Tycoon @ 40/1

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