Royal Ascot Tips On Saturday: Three big-priced tips to back on day 5

Steve Chambers previews day five of Royal Ascot, and has three big-priced tips to follow on Saturday afternoon's Flat action...

15:40 - Hardwicke Stakes

Aidan O'Brien will unleash a four-pronged attack at the Hardwicke Stakes at 15:40 and Broome will be the spearhead of the Ballydoyle quartet as he looks to bounce back from a shock defeat in the Tattersalls Gold Cup last time out at the Curragh. Japan, Tiger Moth and Mogul will add significant depth to O'Brien's charge, but they will face an almighty test against some top notch Group performers in what is fascinating renewal of the Group 2 event.

Recent Listed winner Hukum will look to build on a Goodwood success last time out, while the likes of Logician, Wonderful Tonight and Ilaraab will all fancy landing a blow in what is an epic betting heat for punters to get stuck into this weekend.

However, in such a competitive race there could be a few potential lurkers further down the betting, and in THUNDEROUS you have a consistent performer, who could outrun his lofty odds of 25/1 for Gold Cup-winning trainer Mark Johnston.

Fresh from Subjectivist's heroics on Thursday, the Johnston team will look to launch back into the limelight and Thunderous looks to have a superb each-way chance, if producing his best form. Out of the first three in only one of his eight career starts, the son of Night Of Thunder was last seen chasing home Al Aasy at Newbury, which is rock solid form, while prior to that he was third to Sir Ron Priestley.

He launched into the limelight last season when winning the Dante Stakes at York, but was not seen again on the track during 2020, so he's looking to get his career back on track and record his fifth career success. A victory in good to soft ground is a huge plus with the rain lashing down at Ascot over the last 24 hours. The blinkers will be on for the first time on Saturday, and there's no doubt he needs to take a step forward from what he's producing this term, but he looks to be getting better with each run, so is worth taking a chance on at huge odds.

17:00 Wokingham Stakes

Andrew Balding's King's Lynn failed to land a blow earlier in the week when seventh in the King's Stand Stakes, but Her Majesty The Queen's four-year-old will look to bounce back to winning ways on Saturday in the Wokingham Stakes, which is off at 17:00. Dropping back to handicap company, King's Lynn is all the rage in the betting, and is as short as 7/2 with some firms for this hugely competitive 28-runner 6f event.

Having met trouble in running during that King's Stand, Balding's charge was unable to get close to Oxted on the opening day of Royal Ascot, but prior to that effort he had won a Listed event impressively at Haydock, and while he will need to defy a significant rise in this event, his mark of 100 looks workable and he looks the one to beat.

Last time out winners Rohaan, Chil Chil, Pendleton and Fresh will all be looking to continue their winning ways and could potentially land a blow, however, the one that catches the eye is a former placed runner in this race, and that is TIS MARVELLOUS, who is around the 20/1 mark at the moment.

Clive Cox's seven-year-old finished fourth in 2018 off a mark of 99, while in 2019 he was a gallant runner-up to Cape Byron off a mark of 101. A creditable fourth behind Battaash in the 2020 King's Stand Stakes, the son of Harbour Watch has shown a real liking to big-runner fields at the Royal meeting, and he could be destined for another fine display once again.

Ninth on his comeback run at Doncaster, he improved significantly when fourth at Newbury in April, and Cox should improve further on Saturday, and lining up off a mark of 101 (the same he ran off when 2nd in 2019) Tis Marvellous can go close for connections. With some bookmakers offering seven places in the each-way market, Tis Marvellous looks a really solid each-way option, and he has a fine chance of tasting his first Royal Ascot success at the fifth time of asking.

17:35 - Golden Gates Stakes

We swiftly move on to the penultimate race on the card with the three-year-olds lining up over 1m 1f 212y, and Roger Varian's Alfaadhel is the market leader, as he bids for a third win on the bounce. A two-length winner over Sir Rumi at Lingfield last time out, Alfaadhel will lock horns with that raider again here, and both have to stand an excellent chance of scoring.

Mark Johnston's King Frankel has won one and finished second in five of his last six races, and will look to continue that consistent form on Saturday and is popular in the betting, while the likes of Fantastic Fox and Foxes Tales both sit prominently in the betting, and warrant a second look.

Aidan O'Brien will enhance his glorious Royal Ascot record and claim victory in this race with BATON ROUGE, who is a fascinating runner, and is currently around the 10/1-12/1 mark in the betting. The son of Galileo failed to taste victory as a juvenile, but broke his maiden tag in spectacular fashion at Dundalk when winning a mile event by nearly five lengths. Second on his next start to Benaud at Naas, Baton Rouge was then a disappointing fifth at Navan on his third start of the season.

O'Brien has reached for the cheekpieces for Saturday's contest, and a repeat of his Dundalk and Naas runs will certainly see him go very close off a mark of 96. His below-par run last time out is a slight worry, but having shown glimpses of his talents during his fledgling career the Ballydoyle raider can launch into the forefront here and win this event in style.