Ginger Joe - Royal Ascot 2023 Winning Picks for Day 1

The Royal Meeting gets under way!

The Royal Ascot meeting has finally arrived and we are going to be treated to some unreal action this week. On Day 1, we have a lot of match-up races where the market seems to be headed by two main runners, making it somewhat challenging to nail down your final selections.

But nevertheless, I have decided on my best three bets of the day, which I hope will give us a head start for the rest of the week. Make sure you check in here every day this week for more Royal Ascot winning picks.

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15:05 Royal Ascot – The Coventry Stakes 6f

River Tiber @ 7/4

In search of his tenth Coventry Stakes victory, Aiden O’Brien has opted to go with just the one runner this year and he comes in the name of River Tiber.  This particular colt cost a cool 480,000 guineas as a yearling and has been incredibly impressive in his two starts to date.

He goes up a slight step in trip here, but it looks well within his reach. When he won on debut at Navan, he quickened clear like a good thing, looked even more impressive when he won at Naas on his latest start and the form has been nicely franked since.

The main dangers here are Asadna and Givemethebeatboys, but River Tiber is a potential superstar and is by far the most promising in this field. Other than his two market rivals, the remaining entries really are clutching at straws if they think they can beat this lad at his best.

15:40 Royal Ascot – The King’s Stand Stakes 5f

Highfield Princess @ 9/4

Last year, the Australian raider Nature Strip lit the track up with a dazzling display in the King’s Stand and this year Australia are represented by Coolangatta, who is still an unexposed filly at these Sprint trips. She has improved nicely but only just got up to win at Flemington last time out. Even though this was an improved effort, she is up against some really classy fillies in this year’s renewal and may be slightly vulnerable here.

Dramatised is a really smart filly who runs for Karl Burke. She won the Queen Mary here last year and seems to have trained on very nicely after winning at Haydock on her reappearance this season. In the Haydock race, she flew home late to beat Equilateral and I think she poses the main danger here, as it’s quite possible she still has more to come.

However I think the one to beat here is Highfield Princess and the drop back to the minimum trip on turf is exactly what she wants. She was more than impressive in the Nunthorpe and has now got two Group 1s to her name over this trip, so she sets a pretty high standard. She’s also very versatile ground wise, so if rain comes, it won’t be an issue. I think Highfield Princess is the one to beat here, with Dramatised being the one to chase her home.

16:20 Aintree – The St James Palace Stakes 1m

Paddington @ 11/4

The St James Palace Stakes is one of several match-type races on Day 1 of the Royal meeting and this one looks to be between the English and Irish 2000 Guineas winners, Chaldean and Paddington, respectively.

To me both of these two colts are clear of the field here, but I think the one open to more is Paddington, who started off in Handicaps and has come all the way through the ranks to turn into a seriously smart miler.

He was driven out to win the Irish 2000 Guineas, but to the eye you can see there is still room for more improvement and I also like the fact he seems to be a very straight forward ride which can only help his cause at Ascot. He has a very high cruising speed and I think if he turns up in the same form as his Irish Guineas win, then he is absolutely the one to beat!

Good Luck!

Don’t forget that it’s a long week, so pick and choose your battles and consider taking advantage of some of the fantastic free bet offers you’ll find right here at Betting.co.uk.

More winning picks to come

Thanks everyone for tuning in and I hope you start off Royal Ascot week with some winners. I’ll be back each day of the meeting with more betting tips, but you can also join me on my Discord chat, or follow me on any of my social media channels.

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