Royal Ascot Day 3 Tips: Favourites to the fore on Thursday?

Another difficult day at Royal Ascot, I'm afraid to say. Ombudsman beat the Arc winner Daryz in the Prince Of Wales's, in style too, but that was our only success on the card.

It was a good day for favourite backers, and I'm wondering if it'll be a similar story on Thursday. Here's my Royal Ascot Day 3 tips.

14:30 - Aix La Chapelle @ 15/8

No points for originality, but AIX LA CHAPELLE ought to be hard to beat in the Chesham Stakes.

Aidan O'Brien's son of Justify is a half-brother to Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and French 2000 Guineas hero Henri Matisse, who made a winning start to his career in a seven-furlong maiden at Curragh.

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Under Wayne Lordan, he beat a field including odds-on stablemate Giant Sequoia by a length-and-a-half, getting better and better as the race went on.

O'Brien has come out and said Aix La Chapelle was 'only just ready' for his debut, so plenty of improvement is expected. That makes him a fair proposition in what doesn't look the best renewal of this Listed contest.

The yard has won it seven times. Eighth incoming?

15:05 - Into The Light @ 4/1

I know, I know. Charlie Appleby's had just one winner in the last three Royal Ascots, and I should stay away from his horses this week.

It's not ideal, but Opera Ballo and Talk Of New York ran well in the Queen Anne and St James's Palace respectively on Tuesday, so I'm not letting it stop me from putting up a horse I think has outstanding claims in the King George V Stakes.

Three-year-old Dubawi colt INTO THE LIGHT is the horse in question.

He was a strong fancy of mine on handicap debut at Sandown in April, off an opening mark of 83 after encouraging efforts at Lingfield and Southwell previously, and he went oh-so close, just touched off by David Menuisier's Lost Boys. He went in again on his subsequent start, off six pounds higher, and was bought by Wathnan Racing ahead of a potential run in the Golden Gates Stakes on Saturday.

I thought the selection was a bit unlucky in Surrey. He raced in rear throughout and finished with a wet sail, passing the likes of The Joker (winner off 81 at the weekend) as if they were standing still. In another few strides, he'd have won the race.

He's up 5lbs, which I believe is very fair. Remember, that Sandown run came at a time the Appleby yard was in desperate form, so it can be marked up.

I'm sure he's a 90+ horse and if managing the step back up to 1m4f at a stiff track like Ascot, he's got a huge chance of making amends.

15:40 - Legacy Link @ 13/8

If none the worse for her exploits in the Betfred Oaks just 13 days, LEGACY LINK ought to take the world of beating in the Ribblesdale Stakes for team Gosden, who've got a rich history in this fillies' Group 2 over 1m4f.

I was a backer of the three-year-old Dubawi filly at Epsom and had my eye on her the whole way round. Approaching the two-furlong pole, I thought she was a stone-cold certainty. And then I saw Thundering On, doing exactly that.

The winner looks very, very smart, so I don't think the selection lost much at all in defeat. The form is strong, certainly in comparison to what's been achieved by Wednesday's 11 rivals.

I suppose Gilded Prize warrants extra respect for the French master Francis-Henri Graffard, but on this ground, I can't look past Legacy Link.

16:15 - Rahiebb @ 4/1

It's nice to see some new blood in the staying division. After Kyprios retired, a ski goggle-less Trawlerman took the mantle, while Sweet William danced every dance and inevitably picked up a prize or two in the process.

The pair renew rivalries again in the Gold Cup, but we've got Scandinavia and RAHIEBB at the head of the market. I'm, just about, with the latter.

Perhaps Scandinavia is the new Kyprios, who used to always convince me he was vulnerable in the build up to this race, only to make me look silly every time, but he's too closely-matched with Roger Varian's four-year-old for there to be this much of a difference in prices.

Rahiebb was just a neck behind Scandinavia in the Betfred St Leger last year, making eye-catching headway at the death. That gap was closing - and fast.

That was his final run at three, reappearing at York last month for the Yorkshire Cup, which he won by two-and-a-quarter widening lengths.

Varian has been waxing lyrical about the son of Frankel in the build-up to Royal Ascot, suggesting he's never been better at home, and I'm convinced he'll get this trip. He's crying out for two miles and while that extra four is going into unknown territory, he looks the type to manage it.

For the first time in a while, we've got a fascinating Gold Cup in store.

16:50 - Wechaad each way @ 9/1

Quickfire double for Mr. Varian and Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum?

Connections run WECHAAD in the Britannia Stakes and he's currently vying for favouritism with We're Goosers. That's not my usual MO in a 30-runner handicap, but the three-year-old son of Oasis Dream is a colt I'm very familiar with, and I think he's got an excellent chance.

He was a strong fancy of mine on handicap debut at the Betfred St Leger Festival at Doncaster last year, on his penultimate run at two, and he absolutely bolted up off a mark of 82.

Not disgraced behind the 107-rated Time To Turn and Arabian Desert (100) in a Group 3 the following month, he was then put away for the season, returning 210 days later for a Class 2 handicap at Goodwood off a revised mark of 96.

Again, he wasn't disgraced in Sussex, finishing fourth of 17, just over six lengths off the pace. That was after coming all the way over to the main pack after breaking from stall 15, so his effort can be marked up too. He was the only one in the top six from stall 10 or above.

He's drawn 27 today, which on Tuesday's evidence is right where you want to be, he's down a pound (generous) and I think he'll love the step up to a mile at a stiff track like Ascot. Lots to like.

In a Super Extra Place Race with 6 available instead of 4, the suggestion is to go each way.

17:35 - Endorsement @ 9/4

Aidan O'Brien runs two in the Hampton Court Stakes - a Group 3 over 1m2f for three-year-old colts and geldings - and the pair occupy the top two spots in the betting.

ENDORSEMENT is the choice of Ryan Moore and this time I think he's got it right.

The son of Wootton Bassett was a smart juvenile, beating Queen's Vase hero Limestone at Tipperary on his second start before respectable efforts in defeat in the G3 Zetland Stakes at Newmarket and G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud.

He was just touched off by subsequent Betfred Derby hero Christmas Day on reappearance in the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown, a month before a similar defeat to James J Braddock (third at Epsom) and Pierre Bonnard (seventh) over the same course and distance.

An emphatic victory over stablemate Amadeus Mozart in the King George V Cup when stepped up to 1m4f last time sets him up nicely for Thursday's test, which I'm expecting him to pass with flying colours.

18:10 - Mezcala each way @ 10/1

Closing the card at Royal Ascot on Thursday is another fiercely-competitive handicap, the Buckingham Palace Stakes over 7f, which features 29 runners.

I like MEZCALA in this, for Jack Channon and Tom Marquand.

The four-year-old Expert Eye gelding was a fair three-year-old, but he looks a completely different proposition this term, winning a 22-runner Doncaster handicap off a mark of 85 by two-and-a-half lengths on his return to the track in March.

Then, at Newbury last month, he was third of 15, just a length-and-a-half off the pace, in a race won by Richard Hannon's classy Classic. In second was Indalo, third in the Royal Hunt Cup on Wednesday.

Dropping a furlong in trip is questionable, but it should be fine at a track like Ascot. He'll break from the widest stall which should suit, unless Wednesday reveals any drastic change in the track bias.

Another Super Extra Place Race, with Betfred paying 6 places instead of 4, so we're going each way again.