Royal Ascot 2013 - Tercentenary Stakes

5.00 Royal Ascot (Day 3, Race 5)

Tercentenary Stakes (Formerly The Hampton Court Stakes) (Group 3) (Class 1)  (3YO only)

Winner £42,532

Advice: 2 pts each/way Shirkapour (7/1 general), 1 pt win Indian Chief (13/2 general)

Chopin: Entered Derby reckoning when romping to 9 length Group 3 win on return at Krefield, and ran well for a long way in Derby, looking as if he would take hand before failing for stamina late on (suffered cut to his behind and not the best of runs); Should relish this drop in trip and go well even under 4lbs penalty.

Centurius: Form of Nottingham maiden that he won on debut has been rock solid with four subsequent winners coming from that race, but brushed aside by Windhoek in Newmarket Listed race and others make more appeal here.

Elkaayed: Fourth and second in good maidens last year, most notably best of the rest behind Telescope, and unbeaten in two this year, following up maiden win with comprehensive all the way win of Doncaster conditions event; Only the three runners there but well worth his chance here.

Horarding: No doubting that he showed improvement to win Listed event at Newmarket latest, but behind Centurius and also Windhoek there the time before and exposed.

Ideal: Won two form three in Germany this season, but 8 and a half lengths behind Chopin when the two met and hardly likely to reverse that form.

Indian Chief: Done nothing wrong in three starts so far, following up promising second on debut with easy maiden win and third in Dante, having looked as if he was set to win until being swamped in the final furlong, but the form of that race has worked out extremely well with Libertian a cracking derby second and Trading leather a convincing listed winner; Will take some beating today.

Kitten on the Run: Mutiple listed winner in Italy who made a promising debut in UK when fourth in valuable Newbury handicap, but will need good deal more to get involved.

Remote: Followed up promising debut with two performances that were those of a group horse in the making, winning Newbury maiden easily before trouncing opposition off 89 in Doncaster handicap over a mile; This a very stiff test but improving at a rate of knots and had so much left to give last time.

Secret Number: Buzz horse in Dubai after impressive Listed win and did nothing to harm that reputation in defeat when making huge amounts of ground from wide in the UAE Derby off dreadfully slow gallop; Unable to repeat that form in Dante however and can’t be backed until showing more.

Shikarpour: Smooth winning debut when landing Longchamp maiden (1m3f) and entrusted with representing yard that had won Prix Du Jockey Club 3 three times in last ten years after just that, and showed immense promise when staying on well to take fifth, giving himself a lot of ground to make up after slow start but nearly snatching fourth on the line (gave head start to all those ahead, including Intello) Can take big step forward from that and first rate chance here on just third start.

Van Der Neer: Looked to have a big future last season when second to Kingsbairns in Racing Post Trophy and then third in 2,000 Guineas, making eyecatching late headway; Nowhere near same form when eight in Irish 2,000 but has to be forgiven that run and big player if back to best here.

Windhoek: Uncompromising attitude shown when handing step up to 10f in his stride to land sales race on seasonal debut and then looked set for big things when giving Centurius a good thrashing in Lised event over came C&D; Only fifth in Dante however and something to prove after that while wide draw may not help chance.

VERDICT: One of the races of the week in prospect with a whole host of promising types set to line up. It speaks volumes about Remote’s potential that he’s favourite against horses who have been on the fringes and involved in Group 1 races so far, and he should take some stopping based on his impressive Doncaster win. Preference however, is for SHIKARPOUR, who ran an excellent race when fifth in the Prix Du Jockey Club on only his second start and may be more streetwise today, going some way to repaying the faith shown in him by Alain Du Royer Dupre - who has used the Jockey Club for many class horses in the past decade - to enter him after just one start. Chopin should be a threat dropping in trip from the Derby even giving 4lbs, but INDIAN CHIEF’S Dante third gives him strong claims receiving 4lbs from the promising German raider.