Racing: Born to Sea can be the stars

BORN To Sea can finally step out of the shadow of his famous siblings and taste Group 1 glory with victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The Invincible Spirit colt is half-brother to the brilliant Sea The Stars and Galileo, with All Too Beautiful another Classic winner on the roll of honour. Trained like Sea The Stars by John Oxx, ground conditions should not be a concern and he can pip Power.

Plenty of unexposed types will line up for the Coventry Stakes but there was a lot to like about the debut victory of The Taj at Doncaster. One of only a handful of horses Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum has with champion trainer Richard Hannon, he looked well above average when running away with his maiden. The King’s Stand Stakes has 23 sprinters going to post and there are reasons to believe we have not seen the best of French challenger Wizz Kid. Seven of the last 10 renewals of the Ascot Stakes have gone to trainers who primarily concentrate on jumpers so that looks a good place to start. David Pipe’s Ashbrittle, who will be ridden by Paul Hanagan, is the tentative pick.