Royal Ascot Gold Cup At Mercy of Yeats Again - 06-17-08

June 17 - As Royal Ascot gets underway this week in England, there are 5 exciting days full of horse races to choose from, but the one that has peaked everyone's interest is Thursday's 250,000 pound Gold Cup (Group 1), where all eyes will be on two-time winner, Yeats, to see if he can make it a hat trick.

Under the care of his highly-respected Irish trainer, Aiden O'Brien, Yeats has proved to be a strong runner and a horse that likes winning. However, as he is undoubtedly getting on in years, many punters are asking themselves whether Yeats can muster yet another 2 1/2 mile victory at Ascot.

The last horse to win a Gold Cup hat trick was the French thoroughbred, Sagaro, who crossed the line Ascot way back in 1977. Since his impressive feat, eight other horses have managed to win a dual in the Gold Cup, but none have managed the third and arguably hardest victory.

Yeats will be the ninth horse since Sagaro - ridden then by the famous Lester Piggott - to attempt a triple victory. As such, O' Brien has run the colt sparingly over the past months, instead choosing to nurture him in his Ballydoyle stables in Ireland, with the 2008 Gold Cup glory in mind.

It's no surprise then that fans of Yeats will be rooting for him to leave the 10-strong field behind and take Royal Ascot glory home to Ireland. Equally, his detractors will be hoping that the colt will simply run out of steam, given his number of years in the Irish and UK horseracing world.

As a staunch fan of Yeats, however, this writer is hoping that the old boy will bring it home in fine style. That said, he will have his work cut out for him especially against two of his fellow runners, the as yet unbeaten Andre Fabre-trained colt, Coastal Path and the Jamie Osborne-trained, Geordieland.

Both horses are being heavily favored by bookmakers. Coastal Path will be seeking revenge for the defeat of his brother Reefscape, who came in second behind Yeats in the colt's first Gold Cup in 2006. Geordieland, meanwhile, is in excellent form after taking first place in York this year, his only start of this season.

The complete field for the 2008 250,000 pound Gold Cup (Group 1) includes Yeats (5/4), Coastal Path (9/4), Geordieland (8/1), Allegretto (14/1), Sagara (14/1), Finalmente (20/1), Regal Flush (20/1), Le Miracle (25/1), Thundering Star (25/1l), Diamond Quest (50/1) and Baddam (100/1).