Hills pleased with draw as Afaak bids to prove his class in straight mile test

5.00 Ascot
Royal Hunt Cup (Heritage Handicap) | 1m | 3yo+ | ITV/RUK

Long-time ante-post favourite Afaak appears to have all the right credentials for this famous charge up the Ascot straight.

A Group horse is often needed to win this type of prestigious handicap and the Charlie Hills-trained four-year-old possesses that sort of potential after winning well at York’s Dante meeting.

Hills said: “I’m pleased with his draw. It gives him the option of joining the stands’ side group or tacking over to the far rail. He won the Hambleton Handicap at York, which is always an informative race, and though he has gone up in the weights he's improving.

"He’s been to Ascot twice before, including when seventh in the Britannia.”

Cape Byron should excel on fast ground

The bang-in-form Roger Varian stable is a dab hand with lightly raced four-year-olds in events of this nature and Cape Byron looks of serious interest on his second start after wind surgery, with first-time cheekpieces applied to eke out more from him.

He travelled strongly and settled matters in two or three strides with a sharp turn of foot when successful off a 10lb lower mark over course and distance last September.

That victory was achieved on a soft surface but Varian believes the Shamardal colt will prove even more effective on fast ground.

Varian said: “Cape Byron looks better now than he did before his run at York and he's just taken a bit of time to come to himself this season, having had a trip to Dubai in the spring.

“His home work is very good and I still think he has potential off a mark of 100. He won over this course and distance as a three-year-old and I’ve always thought fast ground would suit him best.”

Eye drawn to McDonald and Tricorn

Punters who followed James McDonald during a previous stint in Britain – which yielded a number of high-profile victories, including the Group 2 Lennox Stakes on Dutch Connection at Glorious Goodwood – will be pleased to see him aboard Tricorn for John Gosden.

The trainer won this cavalry charge three years ago with Gm Hopkins and appears to have another live candidate in this four-year-old, who wears blinkers for the first time.

Gosden said: “We’ve had this race in mind for him for some time and we’re delighted to be using James McDonald, who we’ve used before. It’s great to see him back riding at Royal Ascot.”

James McDonald: has a good book of rides at Royal AscotCredit: Edward Whitaker

Last year's hero Zhui Feng in repeat bid

Zhui Feng caused a 25-1 surprise in this race last year when making all down the stands’ side and battling on bravely to deny Blair House by half a length.

The five-year-old competes off an 8lb higher mark this time but trainer Amanda Perrett feels he will produce another big run.

She said: “He’s in great form. The ground is in his favour, he loves Ascot, and I’m happy with the draw.”

Queen's horse sneaks in

Seniority, who has won both starts this year, was only second reserve originally but gets in the race after a William Haggas-trained stablemate became the second horse to be taken out on Tuesday due to being lame.

Seniority is the only runner at 'her' meeting for the Queen on Wednesday and will be vying for favouritism under James Doyle.

What they say

Charlie Johnston, assistant to Mark Johnston, trainer of Love Dreams
He’s definitely got the ability but ran a disappointing race at Chelmsford last week. On the pick of his form at Goodwood and York he’d have a real chance. PJ [McDonald] gets a good tune out of him.

Jane Chapple-Hyam, trainer of Circus Couture
He’s a 100-1 shot but it wouldn’t be a shock to us if he ran a big race. He’s fit and well, and his run over the course and distance a few weeks ago on soft ground would have helped him. He’s back on good to firm ground now, and we’re drawn in the middle, so we can go right or left, depending where the pace is.

Wesley Ward, trainer of Master Merion
He’s ready to go. He’s a very good horse and fits right into this race. I think it will come down to whether Ryan [Moore] can have a bit of luck, like Jamie Spencer did in the Sandringham last year, which we won with Con Te Partiro.

Richard Fahey, trainer of Gabrial
He runs off his old mark after finishing second in the Diomed at Epsom, so he's officially 4lb well-in. Frankie [Dettori] gets a great tune out of him. He’s ridden him three times and been Group-placed each time. Gabrial’s Gabrial and I’m sure he’ll give a good account.

Michael Halford, trainer of Saltonstall
He came out of his Curragh run very well and we're hoping he might win for us, as Portage did two years ago.

Charlie Fellowes, trainer of Repercussion
Zhui Feng is guaranteed pace and he’s drawn low. Arcanada is drawn high and goes forward. You don’t know until you get to the races, but in 29 we've got no choice – we'll have to stay on the stands’ side and pray the pace is good there. I'm more hopeful than confident, but he'll run his race.

David O’Meara, trainer of Firmament and Escobar
Firmament is in good form. He likes big fields and I hope stall 26 won’t prove an inconvenience. If it doesn’t he'll run well. Escobar won nicely at Haydock last Thursday. He has a good draw and I’m hoping for a good run from him.

David Simcock, trainer of Bless Him
He’s trained really well since Nottingham. That wasn’t an ideal situation as we felt we had to get a race into him and he didn’t really have one as we'd have liked. But the scenario here is perfect – a straight mile, fast ground and a good pace.

David Marnane, trainer of Settle For Bay
He's in good form and travelled over well. He cantered on the track and we're very happy with him. We've had this race in mind for some time.

Chris Wall, trainer of Mountain Rescue
He’ll have to run 5lb to 7lb better than he’s ever done before off a career-high mark, but he’s in good heart and I like where he's drawn. I wanted to be one side or the other and there seems to be plenty of pace around him – I could see the race developing where he is. The owners are very excited to have a runner at Royal Ascot.

William Haggas, trainer of Seniority
He’s running back a bit quick from Chelmsford last week, but the second horse there bolted up at Sandown on Saturday. He should run well.

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