KING GEORGE VI AND QUEEN ELIZABETH STAKES BETTING TIPS

This weekend is going to be full of equine excitement as the Betfair Weekend at Ascot racecourse gets underway with the running of the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes which is one of the premier Group 1 events of the year. Sir Michael Stoute looks set to run some of his finest as Ask, Conduit and Tartan Bearer are all turning out to take on A P O'Brien's trio of Golden Sword, Frozen Fire and 200/1 Rockhampton. In terms of the betting, I see Conduit holding onto his favourite status and could drift lower as we get closer to the off. He's 7/4 right now with 4/1 Tartan Bearer considered to be the slim 2nd favourite ahead of Golden Sword, who sits at 5/1. Despite Conduit being such a strong favourite, I've seen two solid spoilers since I've been monitoring the betting market for this race. I've been keeping my eye on Alwaary for a place bet and seeing him drop from 25/1 down to 16/1 gives me a bit of confidence. It's a value play, but I think the Gosden-trained charge can spoil the party for O'Brien and Stoute. If the price continues to drop I will be even more confident, but I've locked in at 16/1. I think Ask is an interesting contender as well and this is horse is a bit of a different story, his odds are starting to lengthen a bit, but going for his third win on the bounce may prove to be enough fuel to get him over the finish line first. A victory against a field of 8 in the Group 1 Investec Coronation Cup and another win over a similar field in the Emirates Airline Yorkshire Cup belies a lot of confidence. Ask ran a mediocre season last year, but has been in solid form against quality competition. I think it's not asking too much for a victory. Conduit disappointed in the Coral Eclipse earlier this month, finishing 3rd to Sea the Stars. Winless in 2009, many punters seem to think this is the race where he turns it all around.