2010 Royal Ascot: Day 4

-Ken McPeek's Tiz My Time is one of twenty-three fillies that will contest the Albany Stakes on day four of the 2010 Royal Ascot meet.  Tiz My Time finished 2^nd in her debut at Keeneland and followed that up with another 2^nd place finish in a Maiden Special Weight at Churchill Downs in late May.  Kieren Fallon will take the mount, which I suppose is a good sign, but I have my doubts that this filly will be able to keep up with the class in this race.

-The King Edward VII Stakes field includes At First Sight, the runner-up in this year's Group 1 Investec Derby (English Derby).  Workforce was the runaway winner at Epsom that day and finishing seven lengths behind him doesn't diminish this colt's class.  Still, he hasn't won since breaking his maiden at Gowran Park in July of 2009, so you have to wonder if he might be a bit of a money burner.

Since this race is only an eight horse field we are left with a couple of options: play one of the horses that finished well back in the Derby hoping that the class relief will propel them to the front, or find an improving horse making the jump up from lower on the class ladder.  A horse that fits the latter category is Green Moon.

Green Moon has yet to tackle Group company in his five race career, but he's rolling into this race off three straight victories at Leicester, Newbury, and Newmarket.  This is his first try at a mile and a half, but a son of Montjeu shouldn't have any difficulty getting that amount of ground.

-The feature race of the day is the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at a mile on the round.  Godolphin's Anna Salai rolls into this race fresh of a second place finish in the Irish 1000 Guineas at The Curragh in late May.  Prior to that she dominated the Group 3 Prix de la Grotte at Longchamp in late April.  This filly loves the mile distance and she looks to be a formidable foe in this race.

Evading Tempete has run nothing but quality races after her first start of 2010, while picking up a Group 3 win in the Premio Regina Eleana in Rome on the first Saturday in May.  There are certainly some class issues with her but it's tough to argue against her current form.

Jacqueline Quest had a rough start to 2010 when she finished 7^th in the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket in April.   She rebounded from that effort to win the English 1000 Guineas at box car odds only three weeks later.  Today's race will go a long way to deciding whether or not that race was a fluke or representation of her true talent.  If you think her Guineas win was a aberration, then she is a strong bet against in this spot.

Sir Michael Stoute's Tabassum is an intriguing filly in this spot; she's definitely a step below much of field in terms of class but her light regime suggests that this filly has a much higher ceiling than we've seen so far.  The stretch out to a mile is the logical next step and her ability to run up front early on could be a big advantage against this field.  The North American pool lists her as opening at 8/1; I'll have a win bet in on this filly if I can get anywhere near that at post time.