The latest news and best bets on day four at Royal Ascot, plus your chance to win £50 in our tipping competition 11.45am Near rail may be the place to go Greg Wood: Going news from Royal Ascot this morning is that Chris Stickels, the clerk of the course, put 6mm of water on the straight course last night and 4mm on the round course. He also “dropped the round course rail back to the inside line to produce some fresh ground.” The GoingStick readings now suggest little or no difference between the stands’ side and the far side, with both reading 10.2, though it is worth remembering that many more horses have been down the far side so far this week, particularly on the final stretch from the home turn, where the round course joins the straight. Thus, it is just possible that the better ground will be against the near rail, if any jockey is brave enough to give it a go. There is also a non-runner in the Wokingham tomorrow. Prime Exhibit has been withdrawn, because of the going, according to the notification, though this seems like one of the more elastic excuses on offer this week, as Prime Exhibit is a runner in the seven-furlong handicap here later this afternoon. Will Hayler previews the day The flourescent-vested man in the car park was still smarting about Eddie Ahern’s tipping prowess as I got out of the car this morning. “He said Berling was his best chance, so I went in on that one, and he went and won on Approve,” he muttered. “Look – his car’s still parked over there. He must have gone out for a celebratory drink after racing.” He didn’t ask me for my opinion, which was probably for the best. I’m mainly focussed upon cheering on every 50-1 shot to cover my spread bet on the biggest winning starting price. Frankly, I’ll be gutted if we get through the next two days without anything bettering Invisible Man’s 28-1 success in the Hunt Cup. Even though I am taking a fairly sceptical view about At First Sight’s second place in the Derby, I’m still a little surprised to see Green Moon ahead of him at the head of the betting for the King Edward VII Stakes. The statistics are clear that Derby runners rarely deliver when they are asked to make a quick return to action at this meeting, but if the clock doesn’t lie then At First Sight finished second in one of the best Derbies of the modern era. I was rather hoping I might be able to lay him at around the 2-1 mark. At 7-2, it’s almost worth thinking about changing sides. Of all the various versions of the 1,000 Guineas represented by the runners in today’s Coronation Stakes, Evading Tempete (3.50) is the only one to have staked her claim for this contest in the Italian Guineas at Cappanelle. She was an effortless winner there and, with her earlier Maisons-Laffite form also looking very good, she looks fair value this morning at the widely-available 14-1 in a wide-open renewal. The man in the car park thought that Rainbow Peak (4.25) was too short to be backed at around the 2-1 mark for the Wolferton Handicap and he’s probably right, but I still wouldn’t want to be against him, now that he’s returned to the right trip. You can read my preview of today’s TV races here . Win a £50 free bet from Paddy Power Paddy Power have very kindly offered a £50 free bet to our champion tipster today. All you have to do is give us your selections for all of today’s races at Royal Ascot. As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 on each selection at starting price. Non-runners count as losers. Please post all your tips in a single posting, using the comment facility below, before the first race at 2.30pm. There are six races at Ascot today and you must post a single selection for each race. Our usual terms and conditions, which you can read here , will apply, except that this will be a strictly one-day thing. If we get a tie after all the races have been run, the winner will be the one who posted their tips earliest out of those with the highest score. If you don’t win today . . . well, then it’s time for despair because this is our final competition of the week. But we will be back, as always, with a new competition on Monday. ElMatador1 was our champion yesterday, his three winners including the 20-1 Gold Cup hero Rite Of Passage. He is presumably not the same matador that ran out of the ring in Mexico the other day . Alas, Simmorissey picked the same three winners some two hours later and deserves great credit but wins no prize. Two people have already posted their tips for today on yesterday’s blog. Farmy11 picked: 2:30 Crying Lightning 3.05 Monterosso 3.50 Anna Salai 4.25Tartan Gigha 5.00Monterey 5.35 Kiwi Bay While goofs has gone for: Radharcnafarraige at first sight anna salai Steele Tango Total Comman wigams turn. Good luck all! Click here for all the day’s racecards, form, stats and results. Click here for today’s latest odds. And post your tips and racing-related comments below. Horse racing Horse racing tips Royal Ascot Will Hayler Greg Wood Chris Cook guardian.co.uk
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Horse racing: Your chance to win a £50 bet in our Royal Ascot tipping competition, plus the latest news and best bets in our daily racing blog
