13 June 2023 , 17:30
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Flourishing trainer George Boughey has snapped up Will Buick to ride Royal Ascot favourite Asadna.
The champion jockey put the stunning 12-length debut winner through his paces in a Newmarket workout earlier today. Boughey's colt, also impressive on the clock during his Ripon introduction, was among 20 stable representatives on show.
They were having the finishing touches applied for the big meeting, where the handler savoured his first success just last year.
Asadna, 11-4 favourite with William Hill for the Coventry Stakes, heads the team when the action begins on Tuesday. And Boughey suggested his speedy juvenile has the right characteristics to cope with the carnival atmosphere at the unique event.
"He has just got an amazing temperament," he said after watching him stretch his legs with Albany hope Soprano – another mount for Buick.
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"I think we will watch him walk round the paddock ahead of the Coventry like he is here. We are lucky to have William riding for us."
Boughey, only a trainer since 2019, notched a record 136 winners last year – the fifth best tally in the UK ranks. Despite his rapid rise, including his Royal Ascot breakthrough with Inver Park, Boughey is not taking anything for granted.
George Boughey could have 20 runners at Royal Ascot"I’d bite your hand off for one winner at Royal Ascot,” he added. "We have got a strong team going there, but no one realises quite how hard it is."
A punter struck lucky by turning a mere 10p stake into £29,000 – by going through the card at Lingfield. The odds of the seven winners, correctly predicted in the 5p SkyBet each-way accumulator on Monday, ranged from 7-2 to 25-1.