The £110,000 Buckingham Palace Stakes is another of the new races on this schedule. Brought in during the strange days of 2020, it is a seven-furlong handicap and a welcome one.

It isn’t just Group 1 types who find it hard to get proper opportunities over what is seen as an intermediate distance, these handicappers do too. But what does it take to win it?

Distance doesn’t help us greatly. The 2020 winner was a miler stepping back, while two were sprinters and one was a confirmed seven-furlong horse.

Before last year’s 50/1 shocker, the winners in this race had all been sixth or seventh in the market which suggests the punters more or less got things right. Winners so far have been rated 92, 94, 98 and 103. Every horse in this race is rated 90 to 103. Three of the four winners, unsurprisingly, were drawn high.

At the time of writing, they are all priced from 5/1 to 50/1. We’ve removed any horse at 25/1 and over who has not been placed in their last couple of races. We’ve removed no horses based on their rating. 

Those drawn lower than stall 12 not placed on their last run were also removed. That left us with 17, but it’s the best we could do meaning instead of ruling out any more horses, we had to rank each of the 17 left with these being the best of them: 

Main Contenders

Billyjoh 

Mick Appleby and Hollie Doyle team up with this Billyjoh who has been very consistent throughout the winter and the spring over six furlongs.

In theory, the handicapper has him now. That said, he never lets anyone down and so the fact that he is now in a big-field seven-furlong handicap on fast ground it may be that more improvement is squeezed out of him.

English Oak 

Wathnan Racing have been splashing the cash but some of it looks quite well targeted, especially after their Queen Mary victory yesterday.

This one, bought only a week ago, is with Ed Walker and romped away with a Haydock handicap last month. He was also second in a strong Newmarket handicap the time before.

He most certainly has a future and he may well win this, but we can’t help feeling his current mark was achieved because of the soft ground which he won’t get here.

Fresh 

There’s plenty in Fresh’s favour and he will no doubt be popular. We too think he has a place chance in this event. Indeed, three of his four career wins have come at Ascot.

On the flipside, those four career wins are all he’s managed from 32 outings and so he’s not one we could call a good thing.

Kings Time 

Jessica Harrington will be hoping her far-side draw is not a disadvantage for Kings Time, winner of a premier handicap at Cork last time out. He can run well for sure and is one to watch in the betting.

Mostabshir 

You may remember Mostabshir. Though often disappointing, there are two key pieces of form from last year that mark this horse out as a potential Group performer.

The way he won on debut was exceptional and much was expected after that. At last year’s Dante Festival, he scorched clear of Ziryab to earn a very early rating of 108 and was in fact sent to the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes after that. Even there he was not disgraced, finishing seven lengths behind Paddington.

He hasn’t hit the heights since then but his form doesn’t tell the whole story. He was favourite on the all-weather at the start of the year when fifth, then filled third position at Kempton before an underwhelming run in the Victoria Cup over this course and distance. 

This race should really suit him and he hasn’t lost it overnight. He’s down to a mark of 102 here but there’s no doubt at all that he’s better than that.

The X O 

John Ryan’s runner looks well drawn and ran a cracker at Epsom during the Derby Festival.

He was a six-furlong course winner last year and sees seven out well, so there are no issues there, but we aren’t sure about the very fast ground for him though everything else seems set fair. Rossa Ryan takes the ride.

Summary

The Gosdens retain plenty of faith in MOSTABSHIR and so do we. He doesn’t look the most consistent on paper, but these lightning-fast conditions given the ground and the pace should suit him down to the ground and he can land a big win.

In behind, The X O is interesting while old-timer Fresh can go well yet again.