Varian could hold the key with promising Alfaadhel

5.35 Royal Ascot Golden Gates Stakes 1m2f ITV4/Sky Card and Spotlight, page 87

BIG-FIELD three-year-old handicaps at Royal Ascot wouldn’t normally be dominated by one trainer, but Roger Varian appears to have two outstanding candidates in this 1m2f contest.

Fantastic Fox and Alfaadhel represent the Newmarket trainer and they both achieved Racing Post Ratings in excess of their BHA marks last time. Alfaadhel recorded an RPR of 101 when winning at Lingfield and Fantastic Fox earned 98 at Hamilton, but it’s Fantastic Fox who is the best handicapped on those figures. He runs off a BHA mark of just 94, while Alfaadhel competes off 98.

Jockey bookings offer few clues because their riders are retained by the owners, but maybe the ground splits them. Jim Crowley said the ground was “probably a bit too soft’ for Alfaadhel when it was good to soft at Chester last month, so he may not want it testing.

Colin Keane was a popular choice among British and Irish trainers on Tuesday and Wednesday and he returns for the final day of Royal Ascot, having ridden at Leopardstown and Limerick in Ireland on Thursday and yesterday. Keane is evidently clocking up the miles.

He has just three rides today and one of those is the Hugo Palmer-trained Irish Legend. Keane will be having just his third ride for Palmer and first for the trainer in Britain.

Another jockey booking to catch the eye is Frankie Dettori on the Mark Johnston-trained King Frankel. Dettori has ten winners from 48 runners when joining forces with Johnston in the last five seasons and a £1 bet on each yielded a profit of £24.35.

What they say

Joseph O’Brien, trainer of Isle Of Sark and Visualisation

I’d be worried about the ground for Isle Of Sark. We’ll have to wait and see how bad it is and decide on his participation closer to the time. Visualisation has proved he handles soft ground.

Roger Varian, trainer of Alfaadhel

He’s a lovely, progressive colt with a big future. He wouldn’t want it too soft and is drawn very wide over.

Aidan O’Brien, trainer of Baton Rouge

He’s in good form and he’s a hardy horse, so hopefully he will be able to cope with conditions.

Alastair Donald, racing manager to King Power Racing, owners of Fantastic Fox and Foxes Tales

Fantastic Fox has an ideal draw and his form is very good. He’s run well on soft ground but the question mark would be, will the extreme ground stretch his stamina? Foxes Tales is yet to run on soft, but we think he’ll cope with it. He’s got a wide draw, but is a definite player.

Roger Charlton, trainer of Without Revenge

He should appreciate the ground.

Hugo Palmer, trainer of Irish Legend

I’m really looking forward to running him and I think he’s pretty versatile on the ground. He wants plenty of cover and to be played late in the straight.