Now dropped back in grade and trip, Royal Line looks worth siding with at 11/4 with 888Sport to get back to winning ways in the 1m 4f Group 3 St Simon Stakes at Newbury on Saturday (14:20).
Trained by John Gosden, this five-year-old is very lightly-raced for his age, but has a terrific strike rate having won five of his 10 starts.
They include when only having to be pushed out to land last year’s running of the November Handicap at Doncaster by 1 1/2 lengths from Not So Sleepy.
That performance confirmed that the son of Dubawi was a pattern performer masquerading as a handicapper.
He ran well on seasonal reappearance when fourth to Elarqam in a Listed affair at Sandown.
Royal Line went on to land the Group 3 September Stakes at Kempton in fine style before, running with great credit to finish a five-length third of nine to Kew Gardens in the Group 2 Long Distance Cup over 2m at Ascot seven days ago.
That form reads extremely well in relation to this lower grade affair, while the drop back to 1m 4f is a big plus.
Royal Line has a 66 per cent strike rate over it having won four of his six starts and also relishes testing conditions – so the forecast ground will hold no fears.
So, with Frankie Dettori also now getting the leg up on him for just the second time, Royal Line looks to have a lot going for him in this and the one to be on at the odds on offer.
Kinross looks hot in Horris Hill
Kinross won in the style of a potential superstar on debut, so looks a worthy 5/4 favourite with BetVictor to take the step up into Group 3 company on his stride in the 7f Horris Hill Stakes for juvenile colts (14:50).
That came in a 15-runner novice contest at Newmarket where the son of Kingman romped to an eight-length success over Raaeb.
After dwelling at the start, Kinross raced keenly in the early stages and was held-up well off the pace by Harry Bentley.
He then made smooth headway two from home to take up the running approaching the final furlong, before quickening clear under a hands and heels ride to score impressively.
Kinross won with any amount in hand and the runner-up and won on debut and has since resumed winning ways with a comfortable 2 1/2 lengths success at Kempton.
That gives the form a solid look, but what impressed most was the way in which Kinross got the job done despite looking clueless in the early part of the contest.
It marked him out as one with a huge future who needed keeping firmly onside. Although this demands more, it doesn’t look the strongest renewal of the Horris Hill.
Kinross is thus fully expected to follow-up en route to much better things as a three-year-old.
Peaceful the punt in Radley Stakes
In the Listed 7f Radley Stakes for juvenile fillies (15:55), Peaceful looks to hold outstanding claims at 7/4 with Betfair of providing top Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien with his first winner of the race.
This beautifully bred daughter of Galileo went into plenty of notebooks after an eye-catching effort on debut when a keeping on tenderly handled never nearer 3 3/4 lengths ninth of 14 to Ridenza at Leopardstown.
It was a very sympathetic introduction for Peaceful, who was sent off unfancied at 10/1, and she duly showed the benefit of that kindness when bolting up next time out at Thurles.
Peaceful was much more streetwise and raced up with the pace throughout the 1m contest, before asserting at the furlong marker and forging clear to beat Inidian Lilac by seven lengths.
She won with any amount in hand and, although the form is questionable, there is no doubting that it visually a very impressive and totally dominant display.
Given the pace that Peaceful showed that day, the drop back to 7f is unlikely to be an issue – especially on testing ground where proven stamina is a big plus.
The opposition also doesn’t look very special. So, with further improvement assured Peaceful looks very hard to oppose in the hands of Dettori who has only ever had six rides for the yard – winning once and finishing placed on another occasion.
