Royal Ascot | Horse Racing Free Tips

Probabeel Possible For Royal Ascot

New Zealand's Horse of the Year Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel {Aus}) could appear at Royal Ascot this year for the G1 Queen Anne S. The four-time Group 1-winning mare, who is owned by Brendan and Jo Lindsay of Cambridge Stud, will trial next week and will target the same trio of races she did last Australian autumn-the G3 Bellmaine S., G1 Futurity S. and the All-Star Mile-before a potential intercontinental trip.

Cambridge Stud Chief Executive Henry Plumptre told SEN Trackside, “We have been talking to Nick Smith at Ascot and we have an invitation to go and run in the Queen Anne S. on the opening day of Royal Ascot, as opposed to going up to Sydney for the Queen Of The Turf, which is what she did last year [when second].”

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Currie Named Ascot Chief Executive

Vivien Currie, who has been chief executive of Hamilton Park Racecourse since 2008, will success Guy Henderson as chief executive of Ascot Racecourse following next year's Royal Ascot meeting.

Currie led the development of a commercial focus at Hamilton, which included improving the racecourse experience for participants and fans and the building of an award-winning hotel on course. Currie, who is trained as a chartered accountant and spent time with Ernst & Young and Damovo, was also previously chief executive of Livingston FC.

Sir Francis Brooke Bt., The Queen's representative and chairman at Ascot, said, “Vivien's career is a compelling combination of strategic, commercial and racecourse management experience. This made her the outstanding candidate for this role, in what was a thorough and wide-ranging search conducted with the help of Spencer Stuart. She is very familiar with the structure of the British racing industry both from the perspective of Hamilton Park and her terms on both the BHA and RCA boards. She has wide-ranging interests in sport and business and has also been a long term and active supporter of Marie Curie Cancer Care. The whole Board is much looking forward to welcoming her to Ascot.

“Vivien will join as CEO designate in April and work alongside Guy in the lead up to the delivery of Royal Ascot in the Platinum Jubilee Year. On 30th June she will take over as CEO when Guy retires at the end of what has been an outstanding tenure.”

Currie added, “I am delighted to have been chosen as the next chief executive of Ascot Racecourse and to be joining the team for what will be a very exciting year ahead. This role is a culmination of all the experiences I have had in my professional career to date and I am looking forward enormously to working with Guy in the build up to Royal Ascot in June.”

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Ambitious Schedule for Golden Pal to Include Trip to Australia

Coolmore and trainer Wesley Ward have started to put together a 2022 schedule for their star grass sprinter Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) and it's likely to include at least two trips abroad.

With an eye on showcasing the colt and future stallion to as many people as possible around the world, Coolmore is planning on running Golden Pal in the June 14 G1 King's Stand S. at Royal Ascot, as well as a yet-to-be-determined race in Australia.

Golden Pal has raced twice in Europe, finishing second in the 2020 G2 Norfolk S. and seventh in the 2021 G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S. at York. A trip to Australia would be a first for this year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner.

“The Americans think he's the best sprinter in the world,” Coolmore's Tom Magnier told RSN. “If they think Golden Pal is the best sprinter in the world, maybe we need to bring him here to Australia.”

“We are planning a schedule for next year and it will include a trip to Australia at some stage,” Ward added. “They want to open up the Southern Hemisphere market for him so far as a stallion goes. We will look into whatever races are available. The race in Australia will probably be after the Breeders' Cup. It's hard to plan a year out with a racehorse. But we do want to race in the Southern Hemisphere with this horse. If the boys from down under get to see him race and see how great a racehorse he is, that would open up a lot of doors.”

Ward said Golden Pal will begin his year in the GII Shakertown S. at Keeneland, which will serve as a prep for the King's Stand.

“A win there would open things up for him if they decide to make him a stallion at Coolmore in Ireland,” Ward said. “It would show that he could do it over there in Europe. He hasn't done that yet. He was second as a 2-year-old at Royal Ascot and faltered this year at York, for whatever reason.”

Ward also said that Golden Pal could have a dirt race at some point during his 2022 campaign. He has raced just once on the dirt, winning a 4 1/2-furlong race last year at Keeneland.

“To me, he's equally as good on the dirt as he is on the grass, so we're also going to be looking at possibly running him on the dirt after Ascot,” Ward said. “If he shows on the dirt what he has showed on the grass, it opens up another market for him as a stallion.”

Golden Pal's 4-year-old campaign is also set to include a return appearance in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, which will be run at Keeneland.

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Ascot To Offer Record Prize Money In 2022

Ascot Racecourse today announces record prize money of £15.64 million (about US$17.64 million) in 2022 with increases across the Flat and Jumps programs.

This represents an increase of nearly £2 million (US$2.26 million) on 2019 values (from £13.67m, US$15.42m), or 14.4 percent, being the last year when planned prize money was distributed before the pandemic impacted 2020. These figures exclude the industry partnership QIPCO British Champions Day.

Royal Ascot (June 14 – 18, 2022) will be worth £8,652,500 (US$9.76m), an increase of £1,322,500 (US$1.49m) (18 percent) on 2019 values which totaled £7,330,000 (US$8.27m).

Highlights include:

– The Royal Ascot Tuesday card, featuring three Group One races, becomes Royal Ascot's first £2 million (US$2.26m) day.

– The Prince of Wales's Stakes and the Platinum (formerly Diamond) Jubilee Stakes will become the first races at Royal Ascot to be run with a total prize fund of £1 million (US$1.13m).

– No race at Royal Ascot will be run for less than £100,000 (US$112,800).

Outside Royal Ascot:

– The King George VI & Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes returns to its pre-pandemic value of £1.25 million (US$1.41m).

– A record £550,000 (US$620,380) will be offered at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup. The program will increase to eight races (from six) with 12 runners in each race (from 10). Details of the team format will follow in 2022.

– All Flat races will be worth at least £15,000 (US$16,920) and all Jumps races will be worth at least £10,000 (US$11,280) (excluding three National Hunt Flat races and one Hunters' Chase at £5,000, US$5,640).

– There will be additional £25,000 (US$28,200) stable prizes offered on both QIPCO King George Diamond Day (July 23, 2022) and Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup Day (Aug. 6, 2022). These will be awarded £20,000 (US$22,560) to the trainers and £5,000 (US$5,640) to stable staff across the top three performing yards based on points achieved for first to fifth placings.

– All plans remain subject to change depending on the COVID-19 landscape.

Guy Henderson, Chief Executive Officer at Ascot Racecourse, said:

“We are pleased to be able to announce a return to our pre-pandemic prize money plans as we re-build. Whilst these plans have been unavoidably delayed, today is about looking forward. It is vital we maintain the quality of the British Pattern and the top end program generally. For obvious reasons, a large proportion of the increases announced today are focused on our 35 races at the Royal Meeting.

“Prize money is racing's equivalent of remunerating the players on the pitch. We need to offer the best we can in order to attract the best and help maintain international investment in British racing. Our next ambition, as we build Ascot as a global brand wrapped around world class racing, is to be able to offer at least £1m for each of our nine Group One races in the coming years.

“Field sizes for races of both codes are under pressure. With this in mind, we have applied a number of targeted increases across our program and raised our minimum prize money levels for both codes. Specifically, we have made some changes to QIPCO King George Diamond Weekend and expanded the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup to eight races with fields of 12; the established races increase from £60,000 to £75,000 and we have added two new £50,000 races.

“Our aim is for the stable prizes to incentivize owners and trainers to target these two fixtures and build on the successful trial at this year's Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.

“I wish to conclude by thanking Ascot's staff, our customers and commercial partners for all their loyal support in 2021 which has so significantly contributed to the business being able to advance again in 2022.”

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