Ed Nicholson: “She is officially the highest rated horse in the race already – and she will get even better.”

The UK’s big flat race meeting of the season begins today at Royal Ascot with five days of fabulous fun and frivolity at the Berkshire course for thousands of racegoers.

These five days have long been in the diary of every trainer, owner and jockey who have had dreams of landing one, or more, of the 35 most prestigious races flat racing has to offer during one week; each race asks something else of a horse at a particular age over a certain distance – from the lightly raced two year old fillies in the 5f Queen Mary Stakes to the stamina sapping 2 ½ mile Ascot Gold Cup for the experienced older horses. There is literally a race for every type of high class horse.

And that is what makes each race so compelling for us bookmakers and punters alike.

It’s a chance for us all to pit our wits against each other with the evidence of the form book and the verification of our eyes to help us analyse which horses to back and which ones to avoid!

With that firmly in mind, we asked Unibet’s Head of Racing, Ed Nicholson, for his top five selections ahead of the week.

Ed Nicholson’s Top Royal Ascot selections:

5. MINNIE HAUK – Wed 4.20 Prince of Wales’s Stakes

You are getting  a juicy price on a Ryan Moore ridden and Aidan O’Brien trained runner in a Group 1 race at Royal Ascot as this star filly disappointed in a similar contest in Ireland last time out. But that 10f Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup  race was run at a slow pace, which didn’t help the 12 furlong winning filly – especially as she was two rows back in the race and simply couldn’t quicken past horses who had saved energy ahead of her. Connections know what they did wrong – and expect Minnie Hauk to be ridden much nearer to the early pace this time; connections have a pacemaker in the race too and I expect Ryan Moore to follow him through -or even take up the running early – to ensure a fast pace. She takes on some very good horses, but Minnie Hauk was exceptional last year winning the Oaks and finishing a head runner up in the Arc (to Daryz who is much shorter in the betting here) and I can see her returning to the winners enclosure here for a jockey who has ridden 92 Royal Ascot winners; only the legendry Lester Piggott has ridden more (116).

4. CONTROLLA – Wed 6.10 Windsor Castle Stakes

There have been 207 two- year- old races in 2026, with 1689 performances – some horses running once, some more. According to my speed figures (and obviously people’s speed figures can differ) Controlla put in the best first time out run of them all, and the second best of every two- year-old to have run this season.

Now, that does not mean she will be the quickest or second quickest horse at the end of the season – or even in this race – but it does show what she achieved in finishing a neck second to Victorious at Naas in the Group 3 Fillies Sprint Stakes on debut, ahead of four – at the time – unbeaten fillies was a very good start to her career. She will have learnt a lot from that run, where the front two finished six lengths clear of the third, and I expect her to go mighty close.

3. MORE THUNDER – Tues 2.30 Queen Anne Stakes  

The Royal Ascot meeting traditionally starts with this Group 1 mile race for older horses and has sometimes brought about surprises such as Accidental Agent’s victory in 2018 but 7 of the last 12 winners were favourites; We all remember the great Frankel winning at odds of 1/10 in 2012 and the brilliant Baaed being successful in 2022 at 1/6.

Interestingly, six of the last 12 winners of this race ran in Newbury’s Lockinge stakes and I feel that race holds the key to the 2026 renewal.

Notable Speech was an impressive winner of that race but he has twice been to the Royal meeting and not performed either time; allied to the belief that Charlie Appleby had him cherry ripe for his seasonal debut I will look elsewhere.

The second More Thunder was 3/1 favourite for the Wokingham handicap at last year’s Royal Ascot meeting and finished strongly to nab 2nd late on. He was rated 98 for that run – but has subsequently run in group races and been allocated a handicap rating of 121. He is improving, he is better at a mile than at shorter distances, and he will be ridden more prominently here; that was the issue at Newbury where he was held up last an couldn’t make up the necessary ground that was required behind Notable Speech in the closing stages in the Lockinge.

2. FLIGHT SIGNAL – Saturday 2.30pm Norfolk Stakes

I was at Bath when this £180,000 Wathnan juvenile made his debut. He was green in the paddock – had two handlers walking around with him, drifted in the betting from odds on the night before to an SP of 11/4 but won by an ever increasing 3 ¼ lengths at the line. He moved up under Hollie Doyle’s hands in an eye-catching manner and then quickened away in tremendous style under 9 stone 7 lbs in a relatively very quick time for that course and distance – a look at the records under similar ground conditions put that run in the top three runs by a first time out two year at the course this century. He was still green – and if he shows any sort of improvement he must go well in the Norfolk. Connections won that Bath race with Aesterius in 2024 who then went onto finish 5th in that season’s Norfolk stakes, and Bath has often been a good place for Royal Ascot 2- year- olds to win at on racecourse debut, Heartache won the 2017 Queen Mary; Radiohead won the 2009 Norfolk and Shining Hour won the 1999 Queen Mary having all won at Bath the time before.  Flight Signal can add to that record.

1. VENETIAN SUN – Friday 3.05 Commonwealth Cup

 

Venetian Sun was the one two- year- old last year that I wanted to back given a sensational speed figure when running at Carlisle and despite what had looked a poor draw, she took the Albany Stakes in tremendous style before cementing herself as one of the top two- year- old fillies of her generation.

This year she took her chance in the 1000 Guineas but clearly didn’t stay the mile and a sprinting campaign was quickly identified as the route for her for the remainder of the 2026 summer. Despite ground that was possibly too soft for her at Haydock in the 6f Group 2 Sandy Lane stakes she trounced the opposition and having been 8/1 prior to that Haydock run was cut to 7/4 for the Commonwealth Cup following that impressive performance. She will be very hard to beat here over course and distance and on ground she likes. She is officially the highest rated horse in the race already – and she will get even better. In fact, I’ve already backed her for the July Cup at 5/1!

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