Tuesday’s racing tips: Best bets and odds on day one of Royal Ascot 2026 – UK Times

Excitement is high as we go into the opening day of Royal Ascot 2026. Horse racing correspondent Jonathan Doidge has scoured a stellar day’s action and come up with several selections.

What a superb opener to the meeting and there is little to choose between stable companions NOTABLE SPEECH and Opera Ballo based on their latest efforts, with the narrow vote going to the ante-post favourite.

Charlie Appleby saddles both and for me it was the manner of the selection’s 2l success at the hands of second-favourite More Thunder in last month’s Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury that I think just gives him the edge at this level.

Opera Ballo did absolutely nothing wrong in winning the Group 2 bet365 Mile at Sandown by 3l from Field Of Gold but whatever the figures say, something your own eyes are the best judge and also a look at the two runners’ respective CVs suggests that Notable Speech is just the more battle hardened of the pair going into this.

I’d be surprised if his ante-post price doesn’t drift a little and his stablemate’s shorten between now and the off but we’ll take Notable Speech for the win.

Racing tip 1: Notable Speech (Ascot, 14.30) – 2pts win @ 15/8 on betting sites

Five of the last ten winners of this have started as the favourite but there have also been two big shocks in the past six seasons, so don’t completely discount anything.

Aidan O’Brien’s name is against four of those last ten successful horses, including Gstaad last season and the same winning combination, he and Ryan Moore, are responsible for this year’s market leader Confucius.

Beaten on debut in a Curragh maiden (5f, soft/heavy), he improved plenty on that when scoring decisively at Naas (6f, good) last time.

His stable companion GREAT BARRIER REEF is unbeaten and has the pick of the form in the contest, that coming with his win in the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes at the Curragh (6f, good) last time out.

The Moore factor has obviously influenced the price of both runners and the fact that Ryan has picked Confucious is obviously much respected. However, he doesn’t always get those choices correct and Wayne Lordan has ridden his fair share of big race winners.

I just think that at 6/1 at the time of writing, he looks an each-way bet to nothing and he looks to have the pace to handle the low draw better than many would be able. If things drop right, he could be capable of making it 3-3.

Everything else will need significant improvement to match the aforementioned pair and it’s clearly not easy to judge who might produce that but Ruler’s Price and Royal Heritage have both had just the one run each and may be capable of sizeable steps up on those initial wins.

Racing tip 2: Great Barrier Reef (Ascot, 15.05) – 1pt each-way @ 6/1 on Royal Ascot betting sites

For the obvious reason that this is a big field Group 1 contest, it is never easy to win in back-to-back but Blue Point showed it was possible to do so in 2018 and 2019 and AMERICAN AFFAIR looks like he has been prepared to peak at the right time again by Jim Goldie.

He won this at 11/1 last year and he’s an 8/1 chance at the time of writing for this year’s renewal, which I think is a value price given that he’s proven over C&D and he’s also got a very similar draw (18) to last year’s successful stall (16).

He clearly needed his first outing of the season at York and was back in better form when 1l second to one of today’s opponents, Night Raider, in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock (5f, good to soft) last time.

He ran to a level 9lb better than that when scoring in this last year and I’d expect a performance much more to that level now that the big day has come. Night Raider is respected but, like in this race 12 months ago, has a low draw to overcome but the favourite Overpass, who raids from Australia, French visitor Rayevka and Irish traveller Mission Control are all feared, while if 2024 winner Asfoora was at the top of her game she’d be thereabouts again.

Racing tip 3: American Affair (Ascot, 15.40) – 1pt each-way @ 8/1 on horse racing betting sites

What a race we have in prospect here, with last year’s Coventry Stakes winner Gstaad tackling the brilliant 2,000 Guineas winner BOW ECHO and the precocious Talk Of New York over the round mile.

The big names have scared off many and that’s no great surprise but if George Boughey has been able to keep his charge ticking nicely since his Newmarket exploits, as good as the others are, they will have to be very special on the day to beat the son of Night Of Thunder.

He beat Gstaad by almost three lengths that day, improving over a stone in the process and who’s to say that this stiffer track won’t bring out even better in him, with enough in his pedigree to suggest he’d get further if connections decided to go that way at some point.

For now, however, why not try to mop up the big mile prizes while he is in such great form and let’s hope, like his Guineas effort, it’s a performance we’ll all remember.

Racing tip 4: Bow Echo (Ascot, 16.20) – 4pts win @ 5/6 on betting apps

Copper Horse Stakes (Handicap) (18.10, Ascot)

A hugely competitive staying handicap in which Valiancy looks likely to go off as the favourite and has been well supported ante-post. He could be very well treated but the price appears to have gone about him and in such a competitive event, the odds on offer about GAMRAI look better value.

The John and Thady Gosden-trained four-year-old was a late developer, running just once as a juvenile but he’s made up for it since. Reappearing with a 1m3f AW win, he was beaten just a length last time by Daiquiri Bay at Newmarket (1m4f, good to firm) last time.

I think he looks capable of turning the tables on Alan King’s representative, given his stellar connections’ record with improving their horses. The Gosdens also know the type to be successful in this, having trained two of the last five winners of the race.

Racing tip 5: Gamrai (Ascot, 18.10) – 1pt each-way @ 13/2

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