PATKAI AND YEATS THE FAVOURITES FOR THE 2009 ROYAL ASCOT GOLD CUP

We're less than a month away from the running of the 2009 Royal Ascot Gold Cup on June 18th, and a quick glance at the antepost market at Paddy Power shows that this one looks to be between two hot contenders- Patkai and Yeats. Patkai has a solid record and boasts two wins at Ascot, one just a few weeks ago during the Woodcote Stud Sagaro Stakes (Group 3) where he bested a field of five by a considerable margin. He also won the Queen's Vase (also Group 3) at last year's Royal Ascot. He'll be coming into the competition this year with a 2-1-1-4-1 from his last five and that's quality odds in my book- his success at Ascot belies his position as the 2/1 antepost favourite. Yeats won the 2008 and 2007 Ascot Gold Cups but suffered some real disappointment in late April at Navan coming in sixth out of a field of 8. It had been his first run since a short stint at Longchamp last fall. He is listed at a price of 3/1 to pull off the three-peat, but I get the feeling that this 8 year-old's best days are behind him. He is very much in contention and could certainly pull it off and he's shown winning form under a number of jockeys, so I don't see that being a huge variable. In all honesty, a Yeats/Patkai reverse forecast isn't a half-bad bet and would garner a decent price in my opinion. Bannaby at 11/1 is also a contender and I'm a big fan of Veracity at 12/1, although he was slightly disappointing in the Yorkshire Cup, finishing 3rd behind eventual winner (and favourite Ask). Geordieland has contested this race a few times and consistently finishes second behind Yeats. He carries a 12/1 price this time around, but I don't really see this being his year. Other notables include Fiulin (25/1), All the Good (14/1) and Hindu Kush (50/1).