| What | Royal Ascot 2023 – Day 3 |
| Where | Ascot Racecourse – High St, Ascot SL5 7JX, United Kingdom |
| When | Thursday, June 22, 2023 |
| First Race | 2:30pm BST (11:30pm AEST) |
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The Royal Ascot carnival hits the halfway stage on Thursday afternoon with seven more races set for decision. It’s the stayers’ time to shine in the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup (4000m), while the meeting on the whole has drawn a staggering 143 acceptances. There has been some rain around from Day 1; however, we’re still expecting a Good track for Day 3, with the first race scheduled for 2:30pm BST (11:30pm AEST).
Best Bet: Al Asifah
Lining up in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes for the three-year-old fillies, Al Asifah has had two career starts for back-to-back wins – her latest coming in extraordinary fashion at Goodwood on June 11. She missed the start early before being ridden up to gain a position by jockey Jim Crowley, and when asked for an effort she showed a devastating turn-of-foot to win by the better part of six lengths. She has an awkward draw (13) to overcome here, but she looks to be a class above these.
Best Bet
Race 3 – 
#1 Al Asifah (13)
3yo Filly | T: John & Thady Gosden | J: Jim Crowley (58kg)
$1.80 with Bet365
Next Best: Eldar Eldarov
Having tasted Group 1 success when taking out the Doncaster St Leger last September, Eldar Eldarov will be looking to add the Ascot Gold Cup to his resume. In his much-anticipated return at York in the Group 2 Yorkshire Cup, this son of Dubawi ran powerfully into second place in what was an ideal lead-up for this. He’s bred to stay the 4000m, and although jockey David Egan has been set a task from barrier 10, we’re confident Eldar Eldarov will run out the trip, which you can’t say about most of these.
Next Best
Race 4 – 
#12 Eldar Eldarov (10)
4yo Colt | T: Roger Varian | J: David Egan (58.5kg)
$4.50 with Ladbrokes
Best Value: Drumroll
In the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes for the three-year-olds, we’re getting a terrific price with online bookmakers for Drumroll. This colt comes out of the Aiden O’Brien barn and has sublime breeding to go along with some outstanding form. Sired by Deep Impact and a Galileo dam, he has continued to stretch out nicely with each start. He’s run a placing behind Group 1 winner Paddington and has since gone on to score a solid win (albeit by protest) at Curragh on May 28. He lands the perfect draw and should get the desired ground, so there is no reason Drumroll can’t give followers a big sight turning for home.
Best Value
Race 6 – 
#2 Drumroll (5)
3yo Colt | T: Aiden O’Brien | J: Ryan Moore (60kg)
$7 with Unibet
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