Royal Ascot Saturday ITV Racing Tips & Betting Preview

Lope Y Fernandez (6/4) has been hyped up by many, with rumours that he could be better than Arizona which won earlier in the week. The O’Brien’s are very sweet on this horse, and he was mightily impressive on debut. That performance and the talk surrounding the horse is enough for me to have a little play.

Rose of Kildare (25/1) is more experienced than this field, and has a very decent chance of landing the opener. The two year-old finished second to Liberty Beach earlier in the month, Liberty Beach since ran very well at Ascot. With the ground still having some give, I think Mark Johnston’s horse has a cracking chance.

Space Blues (11/4) beat quite a few in this field last time out, and watching that run back there’s no real suggestion why any of them can turn that form around. Charlie Appleby’s horse appeared to have more left in the tank if needed. The only one I fancy to claw back some of the distance on Space Blues is Maries Diamond.

With some firms offering five places, the 16/1 for Marie’s Diamond looks huge. Frankie Dettori may opt to ride the three-year-old differently to his last run at Epsom, where he got caught by Space Blues and Urban Icon.

I’m keen to take on Masar given he’s not been seen since last year’s Derby. I’m siding with Defoe (4/1) to land back-to-back wins. The five-year-old was pretty slow starting before winning the Coronation Cup last time out. He pounced to beat Kew Gardens on that occasion, and also beat several of the others in this field. With that form, he’ll take some beating here.

I’m looking for Blue Point (9/4) to land me two tips this week. The five-year-old won convincingly earlier this week, beating Battaash comfortably. Obviously, we don’t know how Blue Point will back up that recent performance, but there’s no doubting he’s the best horse in the race. If he runs anything like he did against Battaash, he simply wins this race.

Cape Byron (8/1) is the right favourite here, and I think he'll have too much for his field. He was last seen beating Kynren at this track back in May. Kynren ran pretty decent when performing this week. Roger Varian's horse handles most ground and has valuable form in bigger fields like this one.

Intisaab (33/1) is another who has form in big fields and has ran well at this track before. The eight-year-old appeared to rediscover some form when performing in Meydan at the start of the year (3rd to Dream Today). He has a lot to find from his last two runs, but could outrun his price.

This looks a bit of a lottery with a few untested over this distance. However, Younevercall (15/2) looks very interesting. If he can transfer his hurdle form to the flat then he looks a very good price. He was last seen beating On The Blind side at Sandown. The drying ground will only enhance the chances.