Hardwicke Stakes Tips: Gosdens To Prosper

In what could end up one of the most high class Hardwickes in recent memory, there are a host of classy middle distance colts and geldings ready to clash on the final day of Royal Ascot. Billy Grimshaw brings us the last of his big race previews and has managed to narrow down a field full of horses he respects to one..

I really struggled to nail down a selection here, truth be told. Often times as a writer you are left scratching your head looking at a race with horses all over the racecard with patchy form and untrustworthy profiles. Not here though, as I believe at least three of these could become really top class down the line. Starting with favourite and last year's St Leger winner Continuous, his claims are obvious for all to see having scooped the Classic and the Great Voltigeur last season in displays that exemplified his seemingly endless stamina.

He could develop into a Gold Cup horse down the line, but he's not slow and indeed could drop back in trip. I like him a lot but think with the level of the opposition he is just too short to be rowing in behind. Second favourite at the time of writing is my pick, MIDDLE EARTH for the Gosden team and with Oisin Murphy booked. The rider of course had a happy association with the sadly now departed Roaring Lion, who is the sire of Middle Earth and he seems to have passed on plenty of his class to his offspring.

I loved the style of his reappearance win this season at Newbury last time out, when clearly disadvantaged by a pace bias but with his class dragging him though to win a touch cosily in the end. He is drawn next to the favourite and Ryan Moore is sure to make this a real test, however with the trip not particularly exerting I'd fancy Murphy to be able to make use of this lad's high cruising speed and just pip Continuous and the other market rival - more on him later - in what is hopefully a pulsating finish between all the big boys.

Desert Hero completes the set of three horses that were topping the market who I have enormous respect for and at his price, he's drifting still further as I type, he was tough to ignore. Last year at Royal Ascot he received arguably the ride of the week from Tom Marquand to scoot up the inner and rattle home to win the King George V Stakes, and although the winning distance was only a head, the manner in which he threaded the eye of the needle and made up tonnes of ground late meant he was always destined to leave handicaps behind.

He has duly done that and certainly has more than a squeak in here, particularly as a line can be put through his last run behind Middle Earth when he got very warm beforehand and blew all chance at Newbury. He managed third in the St Leger last season behind Continuous and could conceivably get closer here today, although I would probably fancy the Irish raider in a straight shootout between the two if they get battling a long way out.

Outside of the big three I can't see anything winning providing at least one of them runs their race, but Candleford is a horse I've been with in the past on good days and bad days and if he brings his A game here could be best of the rest.