Royal Ascot 2025: Best Bets for Day 1

Day One of the Royal Ascot begins on Tuesday, and BettingLounge's horse racing expert Conlan has returned to go through some of the best bets of the day.

You can also check out our complete preview for the festival, which goes into each race and the favourites.

🥇 Best Bet

In the third and final Group 1 race of the opening day of Royal Ascot, I have opted for Henri Mattise. The Ballydoyle colt is one of three selections for Aidan O’Brien in the St James’s Palace Stakes, and this talented colt is the pick of Ryan Moore, which instantly makes him the more favourable choice of the three.

He has excellent form over this trip, acquiring two Group 1 victories, both in France and across the pond at Del Mar in November on particularly firm ground, which is how it appears to be shaping up for a scorching hot week at Ascot.

He tends to be held up in his running, where history suggests that this is to the benefit of the horse over the distance, and with a generous stall draw to his advantage, he is a viable option for AP to add to his plethora of Group 1 victories.

🥈 Next Best

Next up in my selections for Day One of Royal Ascot is the Frankel colt French Master in the 18:10 Copper Horse Stakes.

This classy stayer is one of Wathnan Racing’s shiny new additions to their battalion after a recent shopping spree in preparation for what hopes to be a successful Royal meeting. Last time out, he kept on stoutly over this trip in a Class 2 at Goodwood and saw off Story Horse and Dancing In Paris there. 

Being upped in trip has worked well in his favour as he had plenty left in the tank towards the end of this race. Since the Wathan purchase, James Doyle has been booked for the trip, which can only be an added bonus, and he will hope to round out a potentially successful day for the Gosden pair who will be hoping to put an end to Willie Mullins’ dominant reign in this race over the last two years.

👀 Longshot

For my first long shot of the meeting, I have gone for Diego Velazquez in the first race of the day, the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes. Taking place over 1 mile, the four-year-old has registered two wins over this distance from four attempts, with both victories coming on Good ground in Group 3 and Group 2 races of high quality.

He is the only option for Aidan O’Brien in this race, and has already seen huge market support since the confirmation of Ryan Moore being booked on board for the trip, meaning he may well not be considered a ‘long shot’ by the off, but is certainly one with a great outside chance.

He hasn’t been seen to effect since September last year where he won a Group 2 at Leapordstown over the same trip, which could be of benefit to him after showing slight signs of slowing down towards the back end of the 2023 season, but he has only improved since then and this could be the perfect opportunity for Ballydoyle to stake their claim in this race for the first time since 2020.