Betting the Handicaps at Royal Ascot for Day 5 on June 20

Royal Ascot rounds off with two handicaps. While the Golden Gates Handicap, for three-year-olds at 1 1/4 miles, is a decent race with some promising sophomores, the big handicap is the time-honored Wokingham Stakes, first run in 1813.

Run over six furlongs, it’s another cavalry dash down the straight course. With 28 runners, it provides plenty of opportunity to end Royal Ascot on a high note.

Royal Ascot, Race 5, 12.00 p.m. ET: Wokingham Stakes (Handicap), turf, 6 furlongs, 3-year-olds and up, $231,000

• $20 win/$20 show: #6 Binhareer ($40)
• $6 win/$12 show: #18 Ten Pounds ($18)
• $1 trifecta: 6, 18 with 4, 6, 18 with 1, 4, 6, 16, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25 ($28)

Interestingly for such a large field, the Wokingham is a race that often has a favorite at shorter odds than you might expect, and the same could happen this year – the morning line has two horses at less than 4-1, #6 Binhareer (3-1) and #4 Double Rush (7-2). However, they definitely don’t always win, so we need to take a good look at the field.

One advantage the two favorites have is their high draws; the races on the straight course from day two onwards have generally favored horses racing on the stand side. Binhareer has gate 24, and Double Rush has gate 22, so they shouldn’t have track bias against them.

Double Rush is on a roll for trainer Andrew Balding, having won two races easily at Newmarket this season. The downside for him is that he’s gone up 10 pounds in the handicap for his latest win; clearly a number of punters think he’s up to it, but it’s a big ask.

Binhareer looked quite good as a three-year-old and returned to racing nicely with a rallying second-place finish by a neck at York on May 13. Jockey Tom Marquand is in great form, guiding Mezcala to a late-running victory in Thursday’s Palace of Holyroodhouse, so he has plenty in his favor.

Binhareer’s stable companion #25 Realign (8-1) will also have a lot of friends. Well beaten by Double Rush at Newmarket, he improved sharply at Carlisle on May 30, winning well. This is harder, and he’s not helped by gate 10, but he can’t be left out.

Two horses down in the weights that appeal are #17 Far Above Dream (15-1), a winner of his last two, and #24 Evening Saigon (20-1), just run down late at Goodwood last start. Evening Saigon has the better gate, but Far Above Dream may be the horse with more improving to do.

Form at this meeting is worth considering, and that is enough to give #18 Ten Pounds (10-1) a good chance, third in this last year. His efforts have been a bit inconsistent since then, but he raced back into form when second in the Listed Achilles over five furlongs at Carlisle on May 30, and he’s at quite an attractive weight.

Others worth considering are the topweight #1 Spy Chief (15-1), the improving #16 Fandom (20-1), and last year’s fifth #19 Completely Random (15-1), whose recent form isn’t great but who has a perfect 2-2 record for his rider here, Ryan Moore.

It’s an open race, but I’m most taken by Binhareer and Ten Pounds, so I’ll have a little bit on them and include them heavily in exotics.