Tuesday's Horse Racing Tips: James Boyle's Best Bets For Royal Ascot Day 1

For today's horse racing tips, our analyst James Boyle looks at the flat racing for Day 1 of Royal Ascot, with four selections now online.

As always, you’ll find the most up-to-date odds at the best horse racing betting sites, but our tipster’s predictions are researched early in the day and those prices could soon change. Odds stated are correct at the time of publishing.

14:30 Royal Ascot – Damysus – 1pt @ 14/1

There’s a chance Damysus just isn’t good enough to be a Group 1 miler and I wouldn’t be surprised if this outing proves it. However, it’s far from impossible that he is one and switching to a stiffer test than his sole previous attempt at Newbury could see him in a better light.

It was a bit disappointing that he failed to see out his race when six-lengths behind Notable Speech but I find it hard to believe he was operating at his best on the day. Why he wasn’t, I don’t know, but that venue is plenty quick enough and he would prefer more of a consistent grind.

Getting that at Ascot is a likelier scenario and if the same horse that bolted in on his seasonal return at Newmarket turns up, there’s a chance he’ll be able to compete.

Whether he does or he doesn’t, I’m pretty certain he’s an incorrect price at any of the double-figured quotes on offer. This is more based on what I perceive his raw level of ability to be than what was achieved on the track, but hopefully these circumstances allow him to show his talent.

15:05 Royal Ascot – Cut A Dash – 1pt @ 8/1

Cut A Dash made a big impression on his debut at York last month and is an interesting prospect, with further improvement likely on the cards for both experience and the step up in trip.

What he truly achieved is hard to figure out as the runner-up hasn’t been out since, whilst the third was badly hampered when even money for a Ripon novice a couple of weeks ago. The fourth was beaten a couple of lengths in the same race, however, adding a bit of substance to the form.

Visually, I was really encouraged by the way Cut A Dash went through the race and that was despite being green in it, and indeed in the paddock beforehand. He seems nailed-on to do better on the back of that outing and hopefully can prove that he’s up to this level already.

15:05 Royal Ascot – Siouxperb – 1pt @ 14/1

I’m also going to play Siouxperb in the Coventry, hoping he’s another likely to step forward following a debut success at Yarmouth where he defeated O’Gorman, a two-time winner since.

You wouldn’t be getting too excited about anything on the clock that day but they weren’t exactly going fast early doors and I’d prefer to concentrate on the visual impression he made late on.

Despite rolling around a bit when asked to extend from the front of the field, he scooted clear of a rival who looks to have plenty of talent himself. As with Cut A Dash, having that experience looks likely to eke out more progression and he’s also the type to simply improve for time.

How he’ll be set for a task such as this is the unknown but we’re getting a nice price and he has had a couple of months off since his debut to find further physical improvement. I’m not so sure about the draw and would prefer if he was higher up the numbers, but I’m happy to take 14/1.

15:40 Royal Ascot – Cover Up – 1pt @ 33/1

Cover Up has a fine record and is 8-15 over the minimum trip. He isn’t proven as a Group 1 performer and needs to come up with extra to trouble the best of these, but was better than ever when landing a Group 2 in Meydan and there were no more 5f races for him afterwards.

A couple of subsequent 6f spins out there yielded a respectable third in a Group 3 and a three-length eighth of 11 in the Al Quoz Sprint, his sole Group 1 effort. He’s a bit quick to be fully effective at the longer distance and I wouldn’t be using either of those runs as a stick to beat him with.

Being off for a few months since will hopefully see him return to his best and I think the talent to mix it with most of these is in the locker if he’s tuned up. He moves well, will enjoy being buried behind lots of runners and has what should be a decent draw in 21, with plenty of speed nearby.

33/1 is still available with a number of firms, 28/1 with the others, and I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t at least look to have a better chance than that mid-race. With luck in-running, that chance might increase further late on. He has a lot of the tools needed to compete in this.