King Of Comedy Can Take Advantage of Class Drop in Joel Stakes
Day two of the Newmarket Cambridgeshire meeting takes place on Friday and on that day, one of the more interesting races is the Joel Stakes. This is a Group Two contest ran over a mile and it looks to present a good opportunity to one horse who is taking a drop in class to come here. That horse is King Of Comedy and he looks to be the best bet on the card from Friday’s races.
After winning two of his three novice races, King Of Comedy moved up into listed company this season, and took that in his stride with a win at Sandown by two and a half lengths in that grade. He looked destined for big things at that point, and it was no surprise to see John Gosden move him up into Group One company next time out.
He’s ran twice in that grade, first he was beaten a neck in the St James Palace Stakes and then he was beaten in the Juddmonte International, finishing fourth and two lengths behind the winner Japan, with Crystal Ocean and Elarqam the other horses in front of him.
Just looking at the names of those horses, and what they have done so far, it is clear that they are a completely different class of horse compared to what King Of Comedy has to beat today. His level of form has been very good all season, and if he can repeat any of his last two runs then he should have no problem beating this field.
The biggest danger to him in the race is without a doubt the top horse Benbatl. This is a seriously talented horse, and one that is rated 5lb better than King Of Comedy. However, he is coming here after injury and hasn’t ran for almost a year. It would take a huge effort from him and a great training performance from his trainer Saeed Bin Suroor to get this horse fit enough and capable of landing a Group Two like this one in his first run back from injury.
Instead, the biggest danger may be Zaaki, who looked on the cusp of stardom earlier this season but then disappointed a little. He got back to winning ways last time out, that could have given him the confidence to go through and do what we all though he was capable of.
He is going to have to improve some way though to beat King Of Comedy, a horse who has been mixing it with the very best on his last two starts. This race represents a downgrade for him, giving him the chance to get another win under his belt, one that would be his first at Group level.
On Friday, we have day two of the Cambridgeshire meeting at Newmarket, and King Of Comedy is our bet of the day. For more tips from the meeting, head over to our horse racing tips page!
