Newsboy’s horseracing tips for Royal Ascot include St James’s Palace Stakes options

My favourite five days of the racing year - Royal Ascot. Statistically, we’re likely to get the best of the English weather and, unlike Cheltenham and Aintree, the races aren’t dominated by one stable. It’s not as relaxed as Glorious Goodwood or York but, from the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday to the Queen Alexandra Stakes at the end of Saturday after, the action is simply must-not-miss. Of course, all the social and fashion nonsense can raise your hackles - I’m talking from the perspective of a racing hack, not the editor of Tatler - but the secret is knowing how to deal with it. My late friend and press-room colleague Alastair Down, often better at giving advice than receiving it, helped in this regard. The year was 2002, which marked the first five-day Royal Ascot and the start of my near quarter of a century with the Daily Mirror. The tipping had gone appallingly - nothing new there, comes the cry from the cheap seats - but, as my 7-1 Nap selection Zenda hit the front over a furlong out in Friday’s Coronation Stakes, my salvation appeared - at long last - close at hand. Cue Mick Kinane on Sophisticat, who conjured a late rattle from the Aidan O’Brien-trained filly to tackle Zenda, later to find fame as the dam of Kingman, and score by a neck. Walking back from the steps of the grandstand, I let aim a torrent of expletives at the nobs and sperm-lottery winners before a vain attempt to kick the rickety old press room doors off their hinges. “My boy, you’re taking this place all rather too seriously,” said Al. Every year, when the silliness of the occasion starts to get the better of me, I remember his words. After all, the poseurs and the debs may not have done a decent day’s work in their lives - says a racing journalist - but they’ve usually got problems, just like the rest of us. Albeit of a different kind. What we must take very seriously is the racing. Please feel free to buy the Daily Mirror for our in-depth coverage of every day of Royal Ascot but here are a few thoughts about some equine stars of the show. There are few things more exciting - at least when you’re keeping your clothes on - than an explosive performance in Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes (4.20). If the spectacle of a three-year-old colt rampaging clear from the home bend on summer ground in the first-day feature doesn’t stir your breast, then horseracing isn’t for you. Zenda’s boy Kingman was just such a winner in 2014 and his son Field Of Gold did much the same 12 months ago. I’m hoping there will be a 2026 version in BOW ECHO. The St James’s Palace Stakes is being billed as a three-way Guineas clash and, strictly speaking, it is. Gstaad, second to Bow Echo at Newmarket before going one better in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh, and Charlie Appleby's exciting Talk of New York are in opposition. But George Boughey’s colt is unbeaten, is said by his trainer to have improved since the first Classic of the year, and has star quality - along with his 20-year-old jockey Billy Loughnane. You may not wish to get involved at odds that hover around the even-money mark, but my advice is to sit back and enjoy the show. Wednesday brings the clash between Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero DARYZ and defending champion in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (4.20). The Frenchman looks even better at four and I wouldn’t be in a massive rush to take him on, while I’m hoping BLUE BROTHER will take his chance in the Royal Hunt Cup (5.00). Thursday, known for generations as Ladies’ Day, is now marketed as Gold Cup (4.20) Day, and RAHIEBB, second to favourite Scandinavia in the St Leger at Doncaster last September, may gain his revenge over the iconic two-mile, four-furlong distance. It’s probably a fool’s errand to take on Aidan O’Brien’s PRECISE in Friday’s Coronation Stakes (4.20), and VENETIAN SUN stands out in the day’s other Group 1, the Commonwealth Cup (3.05). The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (4.20) on Saturday brings the Group 1 entertainment to a close. Joliestar brings cast-iron credentials from Australia but Japanese speedster SATONO REVE was beaten just half a length last year and must surely show to the fore once again. One final word, and it’s a plea to the British Horseracing Authority: please shelve all this non-runner-denied-a-fair-start baloney for the week and, preferably, for ever. The decision to declare Benvenuto Cellini in the Derby because he had a foot on the running board of his stall was rightly panned, and deprived many once-a-year punters who backed winner Christmas Day - probably because of his name - of 25% of their winnings. You have to be over 18 years of age to bet, and with wagering on horses comes the acceptance that they will do unpredictable things, sometimes to our loss, sometimes to our gain. Moan over. Let the games begin.