Royal Ascot 2023 – Speed Ratings 25/06/2023

Royal Ascot 2023 – Speed Ratings

The first thing to point out when assessing the speed ratings for this year’s Royal Ascot Meeting, is that a combination of wet weather on the eve of the meeting and a policy of overnight watering throughout the week kept the ground from being lightning quick on any day of the five days.

The going allowance calculation varied between scores of 2.4 and 4.5 suggesting that Day 1 produced the slowest ground and Day 3 providing the quickest of underfoot conditions.  As such, there was no real ‘wow factor’ time recorded over the five days albeit a couple of two-year-old times look to be out of the top drawer and the best speed figure of the week was achieved in a handicap. The table below displays the top 15 speed rating figures awarded to winning horses throughout the week and as can be seen, Royal Hunt Cup Handicap winner Jimi Hendrix returned the best speed figure of the week.

Note:  Horses in bold type listed above denotes the winning horse in their respective races.

A winning time of 1m 39.48s saw Jimi Hendrix return a time that was 0.58s above standard.  The performance itself could indeed be marked up quite a bit as the horse started slowly and gave away a few lengths at the start of the race.  He won the race off a mark of 103 and it looks as though a step up to listed company would be an obvious next step, though perhaps a tilt at the Cambridgeshire at the back-end of the season could be a likely longer-term target.

The race that produced the second best speed figure of the week was the Hardwicke Stakes, won on his seasonal appearance by the top class Pyledriver.  Reportedly only 75% fit by trainer William Muir, the son of Harbour Watch stopped the clock at 2m 29.60s and this was 0.10 below standard.  It earned him a speed figure of 81 and interestingly it was one of only two races that dipped below the standard time all week.  The other horse to achieve this feat was the Royal winner, Desert Hero who recorded a time of 2m 29.56s (0.14s below standard) when winning The King George V Stakes Handicap on Day 3.  In the process, he recorded a speed figure of 78 and this particular race is well worth noting for future reference as it could well produce a host of subsequent winners.

For the classic generation, Paddington produced a very respectable time when winning the St James’s Palace Stakes on the opening day of the meeting.  His winning time of 1m 40.74s earned him the top speed rating of the day as he returned a speed figure of 80.  This placed him 1 point in front of Triple Time who earlier in the afternoon produced a speed rating of 79 when winning the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes.

Other Notable Performances

Outside of the Top 15 horses in the table above, other notable performances (and associated speed ratings) are highlighted below (bracketed numbers indicate race finishing position):

• Okita Soushi (1) (Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes Handicap: Speed Rating (SR) – 78
• Valiant King (2) (King George V Stakes Handicap): SR – 78
• Bertinelli (3) (King George V Stakes Handicap): SR – 77
• Vauban (1) (Copper Horse Handicap): – SR – 77
• Courage Mon Ami (1) (Gold Cup): SR – 77

Three of the horses outline above are worth a specific mention:

• Valiant King – Travelled particularly well in a very strongly run handicap.  He also found plenty for pressure and ran right through the line on only the fifth run of his life.  He looks a potential stakes horse in the making.
• Bertinelli – From the same race and finishing a place behind Valiant King, Bertinelli was also running for just the fifth time in his life and connections can either look to drop back to 10f or step up to 14f.  Either way, a race such as The Great Voltigeur Stakes at York could easily come under consideration for the son of Justify.
• Vauban – An easy winner of the Copper Horse Handicap under an enterprising ride from Ryan Moore, the Willie Mullins trained inmate recorded the third best time of the day on Tuesday (behind two Group 1 winners) and plans for the Melbourne Cup remain fluid.

There were a number of beaten horses to emerge from the meeting who achieved speed rating figures that could potentially be marked up due to the way the races in question unfolded.  For notebook purposes they are listed below:

All of the horses listed above are deserving of a mention here however both Bluestocking and particularly Land Legend should be noted for future engagements.  Bluestocking is highly likely to ply her trade at Group 2 and Group 1 level going forward and looks capable of competing at this level whereas Land Legend looked to be ahead of his official handicap mark (89) and he should be of interest wherever he turns up next from this mark (or similar).

Races Run Below Standard Time

It is always worth noting those races that were run below racecourse standard time.  At Royal Ascot 2023 there were only two races that were run below standard time:

Both of these races were obviously run to very quick times and the King George V Stakes Handicap looks likely to throw up a number of future winners.  As for the Hardwicke Stakes, then it was well advertised before the race that the trainer of Pyledriver (William Muir) felt that the horse was far from fully tuned for this return to the track.  If that is indeed true, then he will surely take a lot of beating if turning up back at Ascot to defend his King George crown in July.

Royal Acot Two Year Olds

There were six two year old races run across the five days of the meeting.  The first three of these races (Coventry Stakes, Queen Mary Stakes and Windsor Castle Stakes) were run when prevailing ground conditions were at their slowest.  Day three saw the Norfolk Stakes being run and this particular contest was run on the quickest ground of the week.  Overnight watering on Thursday and Friday evenings saw the final two juvenile races (Albany Stakes and Chesham Stakes) run on ground that was slower than that which greeted the Norfolk Stakes runners.

The table below illustrates the best time figures on display by the winners of all six two-year-old races across the meeting.

The first thing to jump out of the table was the performances of Big Evs in the Windsor Castle Stakes and Crimson Advocate in the Queen Mary Stakes.  A speed rating of 82 is a big figure for two-year-olds and they suggest that both horses are extremely quick and extremely talented.

Both races were run on the same day and the listed Windsor Castle Stakes was slightly faster than the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes (59.91s versus 59.96s).  It is fair to say that Big Evs looks to be a horse of some potential with his trainer stating post-race that the horse is ‘a machine’ and that connections fully expected him to go close in spite of his odds (20/1).  The clock did little to dispel the trainer’s bullish comments and races such as the Molecombe Stakes at Goodwood and possibly the all-aged Nunthorpe Stakes at the York Ebor Festival could easily come under consideration for the son of Blue Point.

Crimson Advocate posted exactly the same speed figure when winning the Queen Mary Stakes and she too looks to be a very good two-year-old.  However as she is trained in the US then there is no guarantee that she will be returning to these shores again this season.  And as she only won the Queen Mary by a rapidly diminishing nose, then it may pay to follow the vanquished horse in the shape of the William Haggas trained Relief Rally.  She too posted a speed figure of 82 and she looks to be a seriously progressive filly.  If she turns up for the Super Sales Sprint at Newbury in July, it will surely take a smart horse to lower her colours there.

The Norfolk Stakes looked to have produced a shock winner as Valiant Force was returned at odds of 150/1!  However the clock shows that the winner produced the third best speed rating of the week for the two-year-old division and a figure of 75 is a very respectable speed figure indeed.  He can be expected to show that this was no fluke when he next steps out on a racecourse.

The same can also be said of the big-priced runner-up Malc.  He too outrun big odds (66/1) and he looked for the world like an extra furlong would not go amiss.  Both he and the fourth placed horse (His Majesty) should be noted when they run next.

The Coventry Stakes produced a very solid winner in the shape of the Aidan O’Brien trained River Tiber.  The son of Wooton Bassett clocked a speed figure of 70 on the week’s slowest ground conditions and it is the second time that he has recorded such a figure, having done so when making his debut at Navan back in April.

The runner-up Army Ethos was beaten a neck and he may well have overhauled his conqueror in another few strides.  This was a big step up from his debut victory at Ayr and the son of Shalaa looks sure to be competitive in the bigger two-year-old races this season.

The Albany Stakes produced an authoritative winner in Porta Fortuna and the daughter of Caravaggio is now ‘three from three’ in her career to date.  She travelled really well for Frankie Dettori and when asked for her effort she put the race to bed in good fashion.  She posted a speed figure of 71 in the process and she sets the standard at present.  The third placed horse Soprano is also one for the notebook.  She got a little outpaced when the pace quickened 2f out however she stayed on really well in the last half-furlong and this well regarded daughter of Starspangledbanner could be a major player in races such as the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes at the Newmarket July Meeting and the Lowther Stakes at the York Ebor Meeting.

The final two year old race of the meeting, the listed Chesham Stakes was won by the Gavin Cromwell trained filly Snellen.  The time of the race was the slowest recorded of all the two-year-old races at Royal Ascot and a speed figure of 60 suggests that some caution should be exercised when analysing the form.  A total of 3½ lengths separated the first 11 horses home and this also adds to a feeling of caution with the form.  However the nature of the race is such that slower maturing horses who will likely need much further than the 7 furlongs that was raced over here will improve as they grow and develop over time.  With this likely to be the case then a watching brief is suggested when reviewing this year’s renewal of the Chesham Stakes.

Overall Summary

There is plenty to digest and reflect upon from this year’s Royal Meeting however for the purposes of a quick and easy ‘look up’ list, the horses outlined below are suggested as those prospects that should be tracked and monitored in the weeks ahead.    

Performance Of The Week

• Big Evs – Windsor Castle Stakes

Winning Horses For The Tracker

• Big Evs
• Desert Hero
• Vauban

Beaten Horses For The Tracker

• Land Legend
• Valiant King
• Cloudbreaker
• Bluestocking
• Absurde

Two Year Olds To Note

• Big Evs
• Relief Rally
• Malc
• His Majesty
• Army Ethos
• Soprano
• Johannes Brahms

Races To Note For Future Winners

• King George V Handicap
• Windsor Castle Stakes
• Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes Handicap
• Copper Horse Handicap
• Royal Hunt Cup

More Speed Ratings