Kevin Blake opens his Royal Ascot day‑one guide with a warning that the meeting delivers unrivaled class and razor‑thin margins. He praises the opening Queen Anne Stakes at 2.30, noting favourite Notable Speech lacks the straight‑mile stamina to dominate. Blake backs William Haggas’s More Thunder, a five‑year‑old who improved when dropped to six‑furlong trips and finished a close clearly second to Notable Speech in the Lockinge.

The King Charles III Stakes at 3.40 pits Australian sprinters against Europe’s best, and Blake argues the gap remains wide. He selects Bjorn Baker’s Overpass, a seven‑year‑old gelding who has contested every Group One sprint since his Everest run behind Ka Ying Rising. Overpass’s proven speed over six furlongs should translate well to Ascot’s stiff five‑furlong test.

The headline clash arrives in the St James's Palace Stakes (4.20), a rematch of the 2000 Guineas between Bow Echo and Gstaad. Blake believes the market undervalues Aidan O’Brien’s Puerto Rico, whose rating of 119 sits four pounds above Bow Echo. After a poor Poule d'Essai finish, the colt should relish front‑running duties and could outpace his rivals.