Penworthy

Four bets for Royal Ascot

  • From Spectator Life
Jamie Spencer riding Khaadem win The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on day five during Royal Ascot 2023 (Getty Images)

As a keen follower of most sports, I like it when the ‘good guys’ do well. By the ‘good guys’, I mean the elite sportsmen (and women) who are humble about their achievements and who you feel you could enjoy a couple of pints with at the bar of your local pub.

In racing, I would be pretty sure that trainer Owen Burrows falls into this good-guy category. I have never met him but contacts of mine who know him well like him a great deal. He is knowledgeable, charming, straightforward and modest when interviewed on television too.

More importantly from the point of view of a punter, Burrows is an exceptionally talented trainer. He has an incredible 20 per cent strike rate from all his runners from the past five years – that’s because 93 of his 467 runners during that time have won.

That impressive strike rate, which even includes a tiny profit for backing every one of his runners to the same stake, comes despite the fact that the Lambourn handler is not afraid to aim his best horses at the biggest prizes, including the Classics and other Group 1s.

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