Albany an absolute cracker

IF I was to narrow down Royal Ascot’s 35 races to the one I’m most excited about, it would be the Albany Stakes for juvenile fillies on Friday.

After her runaway win at Goodwood, I thought the Crisfords’ daughter of Starspangledbanner, Flotus ( below), was going to be one of the bankers of the week but the more I study the race the better it looks.

Two days after Flotus scored, Hello You came out and won what at the time looked like an average maiden on the allweather at Wolverhampton. However, the time boys were drooling about her finishing effort and she is clearly very good.

George Boughey is clearly a trainer going places and his Woodcote winner Oscula is getting better all the time but he rates Cachet as good if not better than her. The more I watch Cachet’s victory at Newmarket on her sole start, the more I like it.

Throw in the beautifully bred Ballydoyle filly Prettiest and the Wesley Ward-trained Golden Bell and it could well be that the Albany turns out to be the race of the meeting.