Jamie Spencer: “Phoenix Of Spain is the deserved favourite and the one to beat.”

Ascot

3.05pm

Maxi Boy

I’m not sure how strong the form is, but you clearly couldn’t have asked for much more than him beating a horse with experience on his debut at Yarmouth last month. He will clearly have to step up a good deal to be competitive here, but he has a good pedigree and cost a fair few quid, and of course the potential is there after just the one run. He was very green at Yarmouth, and got a little lost in the middle of the race, but he came good off a steady pace there. I cantered him the other morning and he feels like a nice horse, and one that will appreciate further than 6f down the line, and that is a positive here given the ground and this stiff 6f.

4.20pm

Phoenix Of Spain

In hindsight, he should never have gone off at 16-1 in the Irish 2000 Guineas, given he wasn’t far off Too Darn Hot and Magna Grecia at two. But he clearly didn’t have an ideal preparation, which is why the performance that he put up to win that race by 3 lengths is so exciting. Another day, another result perhaps, but on what we saw at the Curragh he is the deserved favourite and very much the one to beat. There are two ways of looking at the Irish race, though. One is that we won convincingly and normal improvement should see us in a very good position here, and I am happy with my draw in seven. The other is that Too Darn Hot was backing up quickly after a tough race at York, and may have run a little bit flat.  I do respect his chances, but we deserve to be favourite.

RICHARD HANNON ROYAL ASCOT STABLE TOUR OLDER HORSES

As it's #RoyalAscot next week, we paid a visit to @RHannonRacing to bring YOU the latest news! Here we discuss his older horses!

Fox Champion

️ Watch the full video https://t.co/laWuGX0Ah1 pic.twitter.com/X6cxNtOcoU

— Unibet Racing (@UnibetRacing) 13 June 2019

5.00pm

Gunnery

Nicky knows how to win these staying races, and won this contest back in 2011, and Gunnery is a horse I know well, too. I rode him in all his outings at three, when he ran his best race when not beaten far in the Queen’s Vase here, and that was a good race that year. He clearly must have had his fair share of issues and problems since, as that was back in 2016, and we didn’t see him again until he finished a promising second over hurdles at Bangor earlier in the month. The handicapper has dropped him 6lb since his last run on the Flat, and I think this trip will suit him. A bit of ease in the ground will be fine, too. It’s just a case of how well mentally he took that Bangor race after so long off the track, but he is on a workable mark here if he does come forward for that run. The horse that I think we all have to beat is Mengli Khan though. He’s a Grade 1-winning hurdler who I think is handicapped to go very close, though he will have to settle, and drop his head, from that inside draw in two. I remember seeing him as a big unfurnished horse as a 3yo when with Hugo Palmer, and he could be tailor-made for this test.