
My betting tip for Day 1 of the 2025 Royal Ascot meeting runs in the Copper Horse Stakes, which is 1m 6f Handicap race. This horse is a dual-purpose performer and I’m a huge fan of him in both disciplines. He ran a huge race to finish in the places for us at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, and I’m hopeful he can do at least the same for us at Royal Ascot too.
If you’re new here, I post four betting tips most weeks, but you’ll sometimes find other types of content too, including guides, big race trends, and antepost picks. By the way, don’t forget to check out my antepost selections for the 2025 Northumberland Plate, the 2026 Cheltenham Festival and the 2026 Aintree Grand National to grab some early prices. Make sure to tune back in for the rest of the week, as I’ll have betting tips for every day of this year’s Royal Ascot five-day meeting.
There is a range of odds and place terms on offer for the Copper Horse Handicap, but the stand out for me is bet365, who are offering 14/1 for 5 places. As well as offering these fantastic terms, they also have a great sign up offer for new customers. If you bet £10, you’ll get £30 in free bets. Those free bets will be very handy with five whole days of racing action at Royal Ascot this week.
There are plenty of reasons why I think My Mate Mozzie will outrun his odds at Royal Ascot today, so let’s take a closer look at them.
In the 2024 renewal of this race, My Mate Mozzie finished a close third, beaten by just 1.25 lengths. Considering he was drawn out wide in Stall 12, he raced keenly in the early stages, and didn’t get the clearest of runs. Nonetheless, I think he ran a huge race, and was actually finishing better than the two who came in ahead of him.
Suffice to say that connections have aimed him at the race again this year, and I think he has every chance of at least equalling last year’s performance, if not bettering it today, off a 1lb higher mark. He runs well fresh, as he showed us last year, and connections seem to have adopted the same tactics this time around.
Gary Carroll took the ride aboard My Mate Mozzie in last year’s renewal, but Gavin Cromwell has made a brave call this year. He has opted to book talented 5lb claimer Warren Fentiman. Gavin Cromwell obviously likes what he sees with Warren, and he’s not alone in that. The Ascot course can take some riding at the best of times, but Royal Ascot is another level again. It’s a huge call to put a 5lb Claimer on your horse in a big Handicap like this.
However, if Warren Fentiman can rise to the occasion and put in a great ride, that 5lb claim could make a huge difference at the business end of the race. It also means that instead of carrying 1lb more than last year, My Mate Mozzie effectively carries 4lb less. Rather than having 9st 4lb on his back, he’ll only have to shoulder 8st 13lb, which is a lovely weight.
Gavin Cromwell’s record at Royal Ascot is notable. During his career as a trainer, he has sent just four runners over for the meeting, and they have produced two wins, one second and one third place. To a £1 level stake, they have returned a profit of +£18.00.
It’s safe to say that Gavin doesn’t bring horses over for a day out, or enter them just to please his owners. If Gavin Cromwell brings one over for Royal Ascot, he thinks they have a massive chance and he hasn’t been proved wrong so far. The return of My Mate Mozzie this year suggests that he has unfinished business, and is capable of being very competitive again. I completely agree with him, especially if Warren Fentiman rides him well.
When considering all of the factors, I think My Mate Mozzie has a fantastic chance of being competitive again in this race. Although he is a nine-year-old now, he looked as good as ever when coming fourth in the Grand Annual at the Cheltenham Festival. He comes here off a mark of 97, just 1lb higher than last year, but with the big call to bring in Warren Fentiman to ride, he’s effectively 4lb lower.
He was drawn in Stall 12 last year and failed to settle, but he’s in Stall 6 today, which could be ideal to get him covered up and settled early on. As mentioned, Gavin Cromwell doesn’t send casual runners to Royal Ascot, and My Mate Mozzie is here because Gavin feels he has a serious chance. I share that view and hopefully Warren can repay the faith shown in him by Gavin. It will certainly be a great story if he can. I think My Mate Mozzie is an exceptional bet at 14/1 with 5 places on offer, but the jockey booking is a slight risk, so I’ve trimmed the stake down to 0.75pt each way.
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While I typically produce four articles each week for betting.co.uk with free-to-access betting tips, the majority of my selections are exclusively for my Discord members.
The Discord members enjoyed a very profitable month in April. For the advised prices and place terms (no standouts), we were +17.17pts, and using the best prices and place terms, we were +30.53pts.
We were in profit again for May. At the advised prices and place terms we were +5.095pts, and at the best available prices and place terms, we were +10.24pts.
If you had signed up at the start of April, and bet £10 per advised point, taking the best prices and place terms available, you would have generated a profit of +£407.70 across the last two months.
If all of that is not enough, we have already hit 4/1, 12/1, 4/1, 4/1, 5/2, 11/2, 9/1, 16/1 (45p Rule 4) & 2/1 winners in June with many more places!
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