THE SATURDAY JURY Are you for or against Point Lonsdale in the Chesham?

EXPERT PANEL ANSWERS THE BIG QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

PAT COONEY

CORNELIUS LYSAGHT Broadcaster

KEITH MELROSE Betting editor

NICK WATTS Racing Post Weekender

Who wins the feature Diamond Jubilee Stakes?

Dream Of Dreams probably deserves to win this having been beaten in a photo-finish in the last two runnings. He looked better than ever last time and is at his best on soft ground. Happy Power may be a lively outsider as he has winning form on soft ground and has form over further, so his proven stamina may increase his chances.

Glen Shiel won the Champions Sprint at Ascot on testing ground, so I think he’s the one with the best chance. He loves the course and Archie Watson is a great trainer for getting horses right on the day.

If early-week conditions had prevailed it would have been Starman emphatically for Ed Walker but the nasty rainstorms have clearly changed everything. When winning at this meeting last year, Art Power gave the impression that he was really one for the future – particularly on rainsoftened ground – and this is his chance to turn Champions Day tables on Glen Shiel.

I was probably erring towards Dream Of Dreams anyway and the rain has firmed up my view. He has umpteen runs of note under these conditions, which gives him an edge on the upstarts. They might be unexposed, but tried-and-tested often trumps that when the conditions are extreme. Dream Of Dreams has been second in this twice and got his overdue Group 1 on soft last year.

I think the Duke of York is the key piece of form and now the rain has arrived I fancy Nahaarr to turn the tables on that day’s winner Starman. That race wasn’t run to suit a horse who is a really strong stayer at this trip but his stamina could be crucial at this stiffer track and with a stronger pace to aim at.

How do you see the Hardwicke Stakes?

It’s not often that two brothers win at the same meeting but Point Lonsdale may well win the Chesham and his older brother Broome could take the Hardwicke. It’s possible, but at the prices I like David Menuisier’s highclass filly Wonderful Tonight to make a winning seasonal reappearance. She was very progressive last year.

Logician is the class horse in the race. He’ll have come on for his first run of the season behind Al Aasy in the Group 3 at Newbury and Frankie Dettori is always a jockey to have on your side at Royal Ascot.

Champions Day form from October could easily be what matters here too and Wonderful Tonight made light of conditions in great style that day. That victory was following on from successful challenges to France masterminded by David Menuisier, and it started plenty of talk about the Arc. If that’s realistic, she clearly needs to run big here.

Most of these are pretty exposed or have some other query hanging over them and I think it comes down to whether Hukum can hack a thorough test at the trip. He should, really, as he won last year’s King George V and Geoffrey Freer, but I’m still a little sore from the St Leger in which he just didn’t quite stay.

It’s a fascinating contest but most of the field have questions to answer. Broome is the most reliable one, and understandably favourite, but the progressive Ilaraab still hasn’t reached his limit and the two fillies Albaflora and Wonderful Tonight could easily figure now that the ground has turned in their favour.

Who do you like in the Wokingham?

Chiefofchiefs has spent most of his career in my ‘unlucky in running’ notebook including when enduring yet another luckless run last time. Still, we’ll go again, just as he did when he won the Silver Wokingham a year ago, and Jamie Spencer on the straight course at Ascot is usually a big advantage.

It’s such a hard race to win. I rode in it last year and they go so quick and you barely get time to think about what’s happening. You then have the draw to think about as you can win on your side but then be beaten by the other side. I think you need a Group horse to win it, so King’s Lynn is the one for me.

Pendleton. Michael Dods is an adept trainer of all types, right the way through to the jumpers with which he started in the 1990s, but his skills with sprinters are particularly deft. Pendleton is up in the weights for being beaten a whisker by Fresh over course and distance and then winning well at York, but he can be expected to have more up his sleeve.

The same horse as everyone else, going by yesterday afternoon’s movements. Punchbowl Flyer has won five of his seven starts on softer than good, including both runs on heavy. Like his yard, he is having the time of his life this season and can hopefully sit just off the pace on breaking from stall 19.

Punchbowl Flyer is interesting on this ground now as his best form has come on softer surfaces.

And what about one for the Jersey Stakes?

I like Tactical at a decent price. He won the Windsor Castle at the royal meeting last year and won well enough over this trip on his reappearance this season before finding 6f too sharp last time. He’s also joint-top on official ratings so looks overpriced in the market to me.

I rode Mutasaabeq at home before he ran for the first time this season, and he gave me the best feeling I’ve ever had from a horse riding work. He won with ease in the ground as a two-yearold and I think he’s the best horse I’ve ever ridden.

This will really suit Khartoum, who won a mile handicap off a big weight at Naas last time, but put in what I thought was a really nice performance over this distance at the Curragh in the autumn. In between he was beaten out of sight in the Craven but conditions at Newmarket were much firmer and that run can be disregarded.

Maybe I’ve been suckered by her pedigree, but considering she’s by Frankel out of a 7f winner Light Refrain has done really well to achieve what she has as a sprinter. She’s won a Listed race and made the frame in the Sandy Lane last time. She was doing her best work at the finish that day, which adds to the confidence that she can improve now returned to 7f.

I’m very keen to take on Creative Force who has been doing well over 6f but might not have the required stamina for this trip. I’ve been very impressed with Bellosa in her two Newmarket wins. She never looked like getting caught in a Listed race last time and I think she has every chance of completing the hat-trick.

I get the feeling that Point Lonsdale is Aidan O’Brien’s best juvenile and I expect he’ll be strong in the market after his impressive debut in an excellent time, but he’s a short enough price given the depth of opposition. It’s interesting that Reach For The Moon reopposes New Science, so the Gosdens may well think they can reverse the Yarmouth form.

I was impressed with Great Max when he made a winning debut at Newbury, so I think he could put it up to the favourite. He’s by Wootton Bassett so you wouldn’t think he’d mind ground with a bit of ease in it.

Despite obvious credentials gained via a well-hyped, wide-margin success at Gowran Park, plus a fancy pedigree, he’s likely to be too short for me. I like the look of Masekela. It was pretty soft ground when he won the race at Goodwood that subsequent third in this – and later Derby hero – Masar won back in 2017, and the extra furlong should suit.

Against, in a word, although you could not fail to be impressed by his winning debut. I really liked how Great Max devoured the ground late on when he won over 6½f at Newbury on his first run. The clock largely backs up that success and plenty of his sire’s progeny go well on softer ground.