Horse	Best	Lto	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Mia's Boy	112	(104)	62	58	(80)	(95)	(99)
Docofthebay	109	100	27	100	(105)	(100)	(102)
Thunderball	108	99	93	81	108	81	100
Castles In The Air	107	74	102	57	68	107	--
Swiss Cross	106	92	106	55	--	--	--
Imperial Djay	104	104	88	66	68	95	88
Norse Blues	104	103	104	101	(66)	(96)	65
Jamesie	104	104	75	82	82	(57)	(97)
Eton Forever	103	82	103	74	--	--	--
Valencha	102	83	75	102	60	85	90
Atlantic Sport	102	79	93	99	102	--	--
Imperial Guest	102	92	102	92	88	--	--
Lightning Cloud	102	95	102	--	--	--	--
Louis The Pious	102	84	93	86	102	102	--
Spectacle Du Mars	102	102	--	--	--	--	--
Advanced	101	95	72	88	101	98	69

LTO Speed: Belgian Bill 106 Imperial Djay 104 Jamesie 104

This is a wide-open 30-runner seven furlong handicap, made into an even bigger lottery by the fact that it is predicted to be run at a slower than even gallop. Of course, the sheer size of this field, thundering down the straight seven furlongs, is enough to make them go a tad faster than that, but it still doesn't make the task of finding the winner any easier. Top-rated MIA'S BOY, who has gone very well under today's conditions in the past, looks worth a sporting each-way bet at odds of around 25-1.

Surprisingly, only three of the 29 runners in this seven furlong handicap have a pace rating of eight or bigger, which tells us that the pace will be on the slow side of even. Granted, the sheer size of the field is enough to carry them along a faster gallop than that, but even so, I wouldn't want to be on any mid-div or late closing horses in this race (those rated six or less). PRIMAEVAL (7) was impressive when scoring at Goodwood last month. Tracking the leaders, he quickened up nicely at the business end to win going away. It was good-to-firm ground on that occasion, but, as a son of Pivotal, he should have no trouble handling good-to-soft.

Now in its tenth year, this 7f handicap is the weakest trends handicap of the meeting. An angle to explore, however, is the old 7f specialist theory. Following that theory would have done us no good last year as Manassas was 0-7 over 7f before his 12/1 victory in this race (though he was second in the 28-runner Victoria Cup over 7f on his previous start) but the 2010 winner had raced over 7f on his previous three starts and it is worth noting that the first five home three years ago had all won over 7f (three of the winner’s four career wins previously had been at 7f). In addition, the 2008 winner, Regal Parade, had only ever won over 7f for his three career wins beforehand whereas the 2007 winner, Binanti, had won six races beforehand, three of them at this specialist distance. As for the 2006 winner, Uhoomagoo, 10 of his previous 11 wins were over 7f so a pattern is definitely starting to emerge here – look to horses that are very comfortable over this interim distance.

Often you can put a line through handicappers aged six and upwards in hot handicaps as they are thoroughly exposed but horses aged six, seven and eight have won three of the last six runnings so bang goes that theory for this race.

Ascot form is a plus. For example, last year’s winner was previously second in the Victoria Cup, the 2010 winner was fifth in a Coventry Stakes, the 2009 winner had finished third in a £100K 7f handicap at the course the previous season and the 2007 winner was third in the previous season’s renewal.

Often you can put a line through handicappers aged six and upwards in hot handicaps as they are thoroughly exposed but horses aged six, seven and eight have won three of the last six runnings so bang goes that theory for this race. Up until last 2010, three-year-olds hadn’t had a look-in failing to provide a single placed runner from their 12 runners but Treadwell put that stat to bed in no uncertain terms giving the Classic generation their first winner. Fancied horses won the first four runnings but two 25/1 shots and a 33/1 outsider won the next three runnings followed by three more double-figure priced winners so I would argue this is a race not to go too overboard about on the punting front.

Sir Michael Stoute has only saddled two runners, which started favourite and second-favourite and both failed to finish in the first ten. James Fanshawe’s record in other straight-course handicaps at the meeting make his runners interesting and he took the honours with Unscrupulous but John Dunlop just about has the best record with a recent winner, second and third.

On the weight angle, the winners have carried between 8st 5lbs and 9st 12lbs so no obvious clues there and the draw hasn’t been a great guide either in terms of which side and the best action is usually following what has happened on the straight course earlier in the week than looking at individual race trends for draw clues at this meeting. That said, centrally-drawn horses have struggled of late with winners coming from stalls 29, 6, 29 and 30 of late with only one horse drawn between 11-22 hitting the frame in the last four years.

When Royal Ascot’s programme was expanded in 2002, as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, it made perfect sense to name a new race the Buckingham Palace Stakes. Royal residences figure widely in the British racing calendar, not least at Ascot where the St James’s Palace Stakes has been run since 1834, and Her Majesty the Queen’s London house is rightly world renowned. More than 50,000 people, many of them from overseas, visit the 775-room palace each year.

The Buckingham Palace Stakes cannot claim quite that level of support, but it has attracted more than 20 runners in each of its eight runnings and, as an ultra-competitive seven-furlong handicap, is a popular betting medium. That does not mean it is easy to solve from a punters viewpoint, of course, and the record-books show that no favourite has so far been successful.

No trainer has lifted its trophy more than once, either, and, with winners ranging in age from three to eight already, trying to evaluate it statistically is extremely difficult at this early stage in its existence. Two trends do seem to have become established, though, as all bar two of its winner had previously collected over the relevant distance and only one was a last-time-out scorer.

GROUND CONDITIONS
 
Official going: Soft (after another 4mm of overnight rain)
 
Weather: Overcast and breezy, with the threat of more showers
 
BETTING MOVES
 
Global Village was a heavily backed favourite, shortening up all day.
Jamesie and Primaeval were supported at each-way prices.
Bronze Prince, Imperial Guest and Spectacle Du Mars were the most popular longshots.
Emilio Largo, Eton Forever, Imperial Djay and Tariq Too drifted as the off time approached.
 
RACE LINE-UP
 
Big weights have traditionally been difficult to shrug off in this perennially competitive handicap and only one winner in the previous eight years had carried more than 9st. Followers of that stat will probably have noted, therefore, that several of those towards the forefront of the morning market had a powerful trend to overcome. They included ante-post favourite Primaeval (9st 5lb), Irish raider Gossamer Seed (9st 9lb), hat-trick seeking Imperial Djay (9st 2lb) and mud-lover Tariq Too (9st 3lb). Others close to the head of the betting with significantly less on their plate – and their back – were Mia’s Boy (8st 13lb), Global Village (8st 13lb), Jamesie (8st 11lb), Emilio Largo (8st 11lb) and Docofthebay (8st 10lb).
   
HOW IT PANNED OUT
 
ETON FOREVER routed his rivals in an event in which the field split into two groups.
Racing with the contingent on the far side of the course, he burst clear with 2f left to score by one and three-quarter lengths.
Jamesie under the stands’ rail took second, ahead of Atlantic Sport and Global Village on the same side.
Directorship finished close behind, with a host of others in a heap farther back.
Louis The Pious was fastest away and, on the stands’ side, he took the field along at a decent clip.
Spectacle Du Mars was close up in the early stages, along with Imperial Guest, Gossamer Seed, Decent Fella and Emilio Largo.
Those chasing the speed among the far side contingent included Bronze Prince, The Rectifier and Primaeval.
By halfway it appeared the stands’ side group would have the edge and, with 2f left, they were definitely favoured.
Eton Forever quickened impressively, though, and, sprinting clear, he won going away.
Jamesie kept on gamely in the final furlong, beating Atlantic Sport by half a length for second place.
The gamble on Global Village went astray, however, as he could never quite get into contention for the number one spot. 
 
RACE POINTERS
 
Eton Forever is best with a strong gallop and he certainly got that here.
This was his first success at 7f – his previous two coming over a mile – and maybe this is his best distance.
Whatever his ideal trip, this victory will be remembered by trainer Roger Varian, as it was his first-ever at this meeting.