Charlie Fellowes is hoping to take advantage of the lack of overseas entries at Royal Ascot this year by mapping out an ambitious tilt at the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes with his smart handicapper The Wizard Of Eye.
The Newmarket trainer may well be in the thick of the Royal Ascot action at his yard next week with some US raiders set to board at his Bedford House Stables, but he is thankful that none of them is to be aimed at the sprint feature on June 22.
Formerly trained by Stan Moore, The Wizard of Eye made a successful debut from his new yard at Ascot last month when running out an easy winner of the Victoria Cup.
That was over seven furlongs but Fellowes says the five-year-old has always shown plenty of pace in his homework and he is keen to give him a crack at the Group 1, the market for which is headed by Kinross.
Fellowes said: “I’m not convinced it’s the strongest renewal of what is now the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Stakes we’ve ever seen. There are no foreign horses in it, including Australian horses in particular, and they all seemed to finish in a bit of a heap at York in the Duke of York Stakes.”
Fellowes added: “Kinross is a very good horse put probably wants a bit further and definitely wants cut in the ground over six.
"The Wizard Of Eye is not getting any younger, is extremely talented and the straight track at Ascot was no problem to him the other day. I thought they went steady in the Victoria Cup which often plays to the strengths of the leaders but he was still able to pick up from the back of the field and show a lot of speed to go and win it.”
The Wizard Of Eye is a 16-1 chance for the Group 1 and the same price for the Wokingham Handicap on the same day.
Fellowes said: “It’s a big step up but this might be the right time to try it. If he’s not good enough well he’s not good enough and we can drop back into the handicaps where there are a lot of nice races to go for but on his homework I'd say he’s good enough.
“He’s also entered in the Wokingham and he’ll be in the Buckingham Palace as well but at this stage I’m very much leaning towards the big one.”
Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (Royal Ascot, June 22)
bet365: 11-2 Kinross, 6 Mill Stream, 8 Regional, 10 Mitbaahy, 12 Shouldvebeenaring, 14 Art Power, Shartash, Spycatcher, Washington Heights, 16 Go Bears Go, The Wizard Of Eye, 20 bar
