Matt Brocklebank's 22/1 tip Khaadem won at Royal Ascot - don't miss his advice for the Wokingham Stakes at 5.05.
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Value Bet tips: Saturday June 22
1pt win Khaadem in 3.45 Royal Ascot at 22/1 (William Hill, Coral)
1pt e.w. Glenfinnan in 5.05 Royal Ascot at 40/1 (Coral 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6) - 33/1 General also fine
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Elsewhere, I’m leaning towards Middle Earth getting his revenge over returning St Leger winner Continuous in the Hardwicke Stakes, while Haatem versus River Tiber in the Jersey looks the sort of clash I’ll gladly sit back and watch without a financial interest, although Heron Stakes runner-up Kikkuli – the half-brother to Frankel – did interest me a little bit.
Instead, I’ll focus on the main handicap of the afternoon and there’s no getting away from the fact any number of them can be given some sort of squeak in the Wokingham Stakes, including outsider GLENFINNAN.
He is still totally unexposed as a six-furlong horse and has had just the three runs since moving from Andrew Balding to sprint specialist Michael Dods this spring. The first effort at Newmarket looked to be needed but he improved massively when returned to this course and distance and took his Ascot record to 2-3 with a narrow win from Thursday’s Buckingham Palace runner-up Billyjoh, despite racing keenly in the early stages.
Previous winners of that typically strong early-season handicap include Fresh (2021) and Orazio (2023) and they were sent off 15/2 and 7/2 for the Wokingham on their very next start, finishing second and sixth respectively.
Yet Glenfinnan can be backed at huge odds, presumably because he was beaten two and a half lengths into third off this 4lb higher mark at Hamilton earlier in the month.
However, I took more positives out of that run than first meets the eye as, after again racing with the choke out, he stuck on as best he could in a race not really run to suit – the winner Manila Scouse making the running and quickening from the front end.
What Glenfinnan clearly wants is a hell-for-leather pace to chase down and he’ll get just that here. I haven’t a clue whether gate four is a good thing or not in truth as higher numbers have tended to dominate in recent runnings on fast ground, and most of the fancied horses are high this time, but what he does have is three of the fastest in the field – Apollo One, The Bell Conductor and Lethal Levi, close by in stalls two, five and six, so I can’t read into the draw too negatively.
At the prices I think he’s well worth an each-way interest.
Published at 1600 BST on 21/06/24
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