Royal Ascot betting tips: Awtaad looks best of Guineas winners

Royal Ascot means different things to different people but just about everybody is united in trying to find a winner or two.

This year, unusually, that is going to mean identifying horses with a proven liking for soft ground after plenty of rain and an unsettled forecast for the week.

The winners of the English, Irish and French 2,000 Guineas clash tomorrow in what promises to be a compelling St James’s Palace Stakes (4.20).

Preference has to be for Awtaad, who again showed his relish for soft going when putting Galileo Gold, the English 2,000 Guineas winner, in his place in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh.

He can confirm that form and looks to have stronger credentials than The Gurkha, who was impressive in France.In the process, Awtaad can make Kevin Prendergast, who is 83, one of the oldest trainers to saddle a winner at the historic meeting.

The opening Queen Anne Stakes (2.30) features American raider Tepin. The Breeders’ Cup Mile winner is disputing favouritism but looks one to take on because she is tackling a straight mile for the first time and is forbidden from using the Lasix and nasal strips she benefits from.

Belardo, the Lockinge winner, seems certain to go close but, at much bigger odds, Lightning Spear is a decent each-way alternative. The five-year-old looked destined for the top this time last year but circumstances contrived against him — tactics, ground, trip — when his sights were raised in the second half of the season.

Nevertheless, he has little to find on official ratings and his form after an absence of two months reads 1111. The fact that has joined the excellent David Simcock since last season is no deterrent and the general 25-1 on offer is too big to resist. In the King’s Stand Stakes (3.40), preference has to be for Mecca’s Angel, who can turn the tables with Profitable.

Those who stuck to a simple formula of following Ryan Moore last year would have ended up £290 in profit had they stuck £10 on each of his rides. Moore can land the Coventry Stakes (3.05) aboard Caravaggio, while the Derby-winning combination of Dermot Weld/Pat Smullen can strike with Silver Concorde in the Ascot Stakes (5.00). Mister Trader is the one to be on in the Windsor Castle Stakes (5.35).