The biggest horse racing action this weekend is across the pond at the annual Royal Ascot in England. This is one of the biggest horse betting events of the year in the UK. You can get in on all the betting action through the racebook at your favorite online sportsbook.

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The prestigious Royal Ascot is a series of 22 different major graded events run over the course of five consecutive days at Ascot Racecourse in England. Four of these events are considered part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. This series features a “win and you are in” qualifier for the annual Breeders’ Cup in early November.

Back in the US, Santa Anita Park in Southern California is the place to be this Saturday for major graded stakes action. The featured event on the card is also one of the longest stakes races of the year. The 2021 San Juan Capistrano Stakes covers 1¾ miles on the turf.

2021 San Juan Capistrano Stakes Predictions

Where: Santa Anita Park

This Grade 3 stakes race is open to Thoroughbreds three years and older. As mentioned, it will be contested on the turf at Santa Anita covering an extended distance of 1¾ miles. The total prize purse for this year’s race is set at $100,000.

Horse Racing Nation has listed seven horses as probable for this year’s race. The top five contenders hold a HRN rating led by trainer Philip D’Amato’s Red King. Rated at 5.87, he appears to be the horse to beat on Saturday.

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Coming off a third-place finish in this year’s Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita on May 29, this seven-year old horse was making his his 2021 racing debut. The son of English Channel won last year’s San Juan Capistrano as part of a three-race winning streak.

Running in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland on Nov. 7, that streak came to an end with a disappointing ninth-place finish. None the less, Red King should go off as the favorite in defense of last year’s title and he is my top choice to win.

As far as my second choice for this race, I am going with D’Amato’s Acclimate for the trainer’s exacta. This seven-year old gelding has the third-highest HRN rating in the projected field at 5.34.

This race will also set up a rematch against Red King after Acclimate placed second in last month’s Charles Whittingham Stakes. Award Winner actually won that race by covering the 1¼ miles on turf in 1:59.27.

Sired by Acclamation, this California-bred veteran race horse won the 2019 San Juan Capistrano Stakes with Red King finishing third. Acclimate did not run in this race last year. Following last month’s second-place effort, he has been able to finish in the money in four of his last five races. Acclimate has spent his entire career racing on the West Coast at Santa Anita and Del Mar.

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Moving down the rest of the list of probable entries, trainer Robert Hess is expected to run both Pillar Mountain and Lure Him In on Saturday. Pillar Mountain is coming off a victory in a Gulfstream Park Allowance Claimer in late April.

Trainer John Shirreffs hopes to give Astronaut the green light to race on Saturday as well. He just placed second at Gulfstream in a Maiden Special Weight race on April 18.

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