Ascot

Second choice Akkadian Thunder will approve of getting back on slower ground and his Ascot record is a big selling point, having finished second in a soft-ground renewal of this 12 months ago and again in this season's Buckingham Palace won by handicap blot Never So Brave. The ground is a bit of a potential red flag for Native Warrior but not Telemark, whose connections have no doubt been waiting for the rain. The same might be true of MIRABEAU, who had some notable form in the mud at two and, after running okay in Listed races to begin this season, conditions were surely too fast for him on his handicap debut at York. Stall 2 is a concern but that chance is worth taking at lengthy odds.[Alistair Jones]