Temple Of Heaven looks worth siding with at the 13/2 on offer with Betvictor to take the step up into Listed company in his stride and land the spoils in the 5f Windsor Castle Stakes that brings proceedings to a close on day two of Royal Ascot (17:35).
This son of Iffraaj, who hails from Richard Hannon’s yard which traditionally does well with its juveniles, put in a taking display on debut at Nottingham when staying on strongly to comfortably beat Dylan De Vega by half-a-length.
Temple Of Heaven then showed a really willing attitude to follow-up in a decent eight-runner contest at Newbury by a short-head from Fort Myers.
The runner-up is a smart sort trained by Aidan O’Brien who ran very well here on the opening day when a close-up fourth to stable companion Arizona in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes.
That gives the form a strong look in relation to this and Temple Of Heaven undoubtedly has more to offer. With Sean Levey – who partnered him to both those successes – once again in the saddle, a bold bid to land the hat-trick looks assured.
Summer Sands has a big shout
Trainer Richard Fahey saddled Marine Commando to land the spoils in 2010 and looks to have a leading contender on his hands this time around in the shape of Summer Sands.
After making a very promising start to his career when a keeping on 3 3/4 lengths third under tender handling to Bomb Proof in an 11-runner contest at York that has thrown-up subsequent winners, this son of Coach House got off the mark in style when landing the Two Year Old Trophy at Beverley.
Summer Sands showed plenty of pace to race prominently in this conditions contest and, after taking up the running a furlong from home, stayed on strongly to beat Oh Purple Reign by half-a-length.
The runner-up is a smart sort who had previously won on debut and ran very well to be beaten just half-a-length in the Woodcote Stakes at Epson’s Derby Festival.
Dream Shot, who was beaten a further 3 1/2 lengths in third, had also looked useful when making a winning debut at Goodwood – so that gives the form a solid look. Summer Sands is a likeable sort who is clearly going the right way.
Odds of 14/1 with Betfair, who are paying a fifth of outright odds for four places, could seriously underestimate his chances and he thus looks well worth considering from an each-way punting perspective.
Glasvegas worth a go each-way at huge odds
There have been some massive priced winners of the race in the past and Glasvegas looks a lively outsider at 40/1 with Paddy Power, who are also paying four places.
This Keith Dalgleish trained son of top juvenile Zebedee went down by just a neck on debut at Musselburgh, before digging deep to go one better at Hamilton when beating Taxiwala by a neck.
Glasvegas, who has shown plenty of speed to chase the leaders, showed a really willing attitude to assert close home and score with a bit more in hand than the winning margin suggests.
The runner-up has since come out and sluiced up by five lengths at Brighton and the pair pulled 2 1/2 lengths clear of the third home.
That suggests the form is decent and it was a most taking performance form Glasvegas.
Another plus is that the yard has also been on fire of late, saddling five winners from its last 11 runners at the time of writing.
Glasvegas looks to have more going for him than his odds would suggest and therefore had to feature as an each-way punt in this Windsor Castle Stakes preview.
