Sean Levey Royal Ascot day one rides blog: 'Any win there is special'

Sean Levey has shared his latest blog with Ladbrokes' horse racing fans and this time it's a big one, with the leading jockey previewing his action on day one of Royal Ascot.

Royal Ascot’s a massively exciting thing to be involved with, especially when you’ve got live chances – at least, that’s the biggest thing as a jockey! Any win there is special.

Obviously, you’re hugely excited before Royal Ascot. I’ve been looking forward to getting back on Rosallion since we ran at Newbury. He’s come out of the Lockinge very well – well enough that you can’t help but be confident going up against the same sort of horses. It’s still a Group 1 and still the Queen Anne, but at the same time, our horse has done no wrong.

The Coventry is always a stampede with the amount of contenders. You have to be lucky with how they split and where you’re drawn. But going into it, you can’t be in a better place as Raakeb as far as experience goes. He’s ran a few times now, and I would argue that he’s got better with every run. I think the track will definitely suit as he’s always looked like stepping up in trip is going to help him, and a stiff 6f at Ascot will be right what he’s looking for. You need a bit of luck, and hopefully I have a bit of that here.

Rashabar didn’t have the most ideal prep leading up to his run at the Curragh, and he was always going to come on from that one. He wasn’t beaten by that far in that race, and he’s going to improve. But the more you look at it, you can’t hide away from the fact that the favourite (Field Of Gold) is an exceptional horse that will be very hard to beat. We are going to give it every go, and hopefully that improvement has me competitive during the latter part of the race.

As a reserve, this being Ascot, I’ll say it’s a little bit unlikely that Crystal Flyer runs. But if she does get in, she’ll have a good chance, especially on the back of her win at Southwell. She’s very straightforward and has no doubt improved this year. With a bit of luck, she gets a chance to take part.

Well, I’d stay on Rosallion! But of the others, Field Of Gold, no doubt. Obviously, he was beaten in the 2,000 Guineas, but he was a formidable opponent at the Curragh when he won the Irish 2,000 Guineas. On the back of that, I’d imagine he’ll be very hard to beat.

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