Minding In Seventh Heaven At Ascot

We really are being treated to some thrilling racing in the second half of the flat season and Ascot is full of more of the same this afternoon.

Four Group 1’s and the tricky Balmoral Handicap make for a fascinating day with hopefully a big priced winner to conclude the day.

Ladies Day For O’Brien
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Found spearheads Aidan O’Brien’s raid on British Champions Day as she takes her chance in the British Champion Stakes but it is his two other fillies, Seventh Heaven and Minding that are preferred to take home top honours on the day.

Seventh Heaven heads the betting over Dermot Weld’s Zhukova at 13/8 and having put her Epsom Oaks run behind her she really does look to be another massive improver from Ballydoyle who isn’t finished yet.

The Irish Oaks winner followed up by beating Found in the Yorkshire Oaks in August and as we’ve all seen since…

there’s little form that can top that at the moment and I’d expect her to notch up another Group 1 triumph here.

The QEII has to be a rarity in that the two English Guineas winners and two Irish Guineas winners all take each other on and that is something that can’t have happened very often in the past. Add in the ever improving Ribchester and you have the ingredients for what could be a race for the ages.

Confidence seems to be emerging from the Galileo Gold and Awtaad camps

but Minding is selected to claim an incredible seventh win at the highest level.

Again, she can’t be knocked for losing her winning sequence at the expense of Almanzor and Found in that memorable renewal of the Irish Champion Stakes and she can hold off the colts and Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Jet Setting.

Seventh Heaven and Minding are preferred over Found who may have to settle for minor honours behind Almanzor again. There was certainly no fluke about his win at Leopardstown and he is on course to frank that form again as he looks like a colt who is improving with every run and has that extra bit of freshness on his side.

Recommended Bets:
Seventh Heaven (13/8) – 2.35 Ascot
Minding (2/1) – 3.10 Ascot

*Prices correct at time of publication.