FREE TIMEFORM RACECARD for Royal Ascot

[kevsul]

this is free from betfair. http://www.timeform.com/images/Free_Ascot_190607.pdf :ok

[Carl]

Re: FREE TIMEFORM RACECARD for Royal Ascot I'll shove this in here if it helps anyone, taken from the timeform site.

Focus On Royal Ascot - An extract from Timeform Select THE MEETING: In terms of the racing, traditionalists will find the Royal meeting much as it was last season, with no less than seventeen pattern races, including six Group 1 events, again forming the backbone of the extravaganza. Total prize money exceeds £3.5 million once more, and, as has become the norm, there is an international flavour, with the best of the Australian sprinters attracted by the two British legs of the Global Sprint Challenge, the King's Stand and the Golden Jubilee. THE CONTEXT: Unsurprisingly, competitiveness runs right through Royal Ascot and it pays not to take too much for granted, especially in the big handicaps. The 3-y-os are at least kept away from the older horses in the Group races outside the sprints, and only the mile events for 3-y-os have provided an odds-on winner among the Group races in the last eights years. Only a handful of favourites of any kind have been successful in the open-age Group events in that time. Those successful last time out have dominated the juvenile events, though that's hardly surprising with so many qualifiers on that score in most races. THE GROUND: Given the extensive returfing, drainage and irrigation work that took place when Ascot was undergoing its redevelopment, track officials did well to provide a consistent surface at last year's meeting, with the ground on each of the five days described as good to firm. Ascot has had its share of controversies over the years, with the tendency for conditions to become very firm sometimes leading to accusations of overwatering. At the time of writing, Ascot clerk of the course Chris Stickels was calling the ground good to firm and said that watering would be necessary if the forecast rain doesn't arrive. DRAW/TACTICS: With races on the straight course tending to take shape against the stand rail in the early part of the meeting, higher-drawn horses (those towards the middle of the track) can prove at some disadvantage on occasions, particularly if held up for a late run, but, as the full width of the track has been used in the larger fields, events have usually shown that there is no strong bias, the pace set on either side of the course usually proving of more significance when the runners split into groups. A low draw hasn't been hard to overcome in most races on the round course, where a prominent position turning into the short straight can be important, though with the course quite a stiff one, free-running horses are prone to tiring badly late on. TRAINERS: Mark Johnston's all-round success has seen him top the table for winners with Sir Michael Stoute in the last eight years, and has resulted in a healthy level-stake profit for his followers. Stoute's matching total has been without any 2-y-o successes, but his strike-rate in handicaps has been second to none. Mick Channon is the leading trainer of juvenile winners, ahead even of Aidan O'Brien as well as Johnston, albeit with more runners in that age group than any trainer bar Richard Hannon, whose strike-rate is poor as a result of his heavy representation. Saeed bin Suroor's winners have all come in pattern/listed events, though that's no surprise given his limited number of runners in the juvenile races and handicaps. JOCKEYS: Understandably, back-up from the right stables has been the key to riding winners at Royal Ascot over the years, and there is a predictability to the names towards the top of the table over the last eight seasons, with Godolphin's Frankie Dettori leading the way, though he's ridden just as many winners for Ed Dunlop. Significantly, Mick Kinane, second for winners over the last eight years, teamed up with Kieren Fallon's former retainer Sir Michael Stoute, when running away with the leading rider title at big odds in 2005, while this year he looks set for a number of rides from Fallon's current employers at Ballydoyle, for whom he used to ride. Just behind those in terms of winners is Johnny Murtagh, who is comfortably ahead of any rider in terms of strike rate.