THE Victoria Cup is not easy to solve. A 27-runner handicap up Ascot’s straight seven furlongs – although Caradoc is out now, so that leaves just the 26. On the plus side, some of the bookmakers extend their each-way terms, six places and all, and you get two goes at it. At least two goes.

Ripp Orf is one. David Elsworth’s horse won the race last year off a mark of 83, and there are reasons for believing that he can go close again this year off a mark of 95.

He could still be well handicapped on his current mark. He progressed throughout last season and, significantly, he went back to Ascot in September and won a handicap over today’s course and distance off a mark of 93. He is only 2lbs higher today.

And he is 2lbs lower than the mark off which he finished second behind Raising Sand in another handicap over today’s course and distance in October. He proved that day that he could handle soft ground, and soft ground at Ascot.

He is a seven-furlong specialist, and he is at his best at Ascot. His record there reads 1312, all races over seven furlongs, all big-field handicaps. These are the conditions under which he thrives.

He should get the fast pace today that suits him so well, and Hayley Turner rides Ascot well and gets on really well with him. Her record on him reads 129235, and her record on him at Ascot reads 13.

OTHER HOPEFULS

The Rip Van Winkle gelding is five now, he doesn’t have the potential for progression that some of his younger rivals today have, but he is a high-class handicapper who is race-fit and who goes well at the track and over the distance, and who has probably been trained for this race since last autumn. He could run a big race.

Kimifive could also run a big race. Joseph Tuite’s horse was a bit disappointing on the face of it on his debut this season when he was well beaten in a handicap at Newmarket’s Craven meeting, but he raced well away from the stands side rail that day, which probably wasn’t ideal, and he moved up threateningly at the two-furlong pole before fading.

He proved that run to be all wrong when he bounced back to form at Goodwood last Saturday. Held up early on that day, he picked up nicely to lead inside the final furlong, and he kept on well to catch Love Dreams, the pair of them pulling nicely clear.

He is 5lb higher today than he was then, but that was just his second run ever over seven furlongs, and he put up one of the best performances of his career. He could progress again now today, on his second run over the distance since his juvenile days. Also, Shane Kelly, who rode him for the first time that day, retains the ride. He is not an Ascot specialist, but he ran well there in a six-furlong handicap last September, he wasn’t beaten far by Fille De Reve. That is his only run at the track to date. And he proved that he could handle easy ground when he went down by just a neck to Staxton in a six-furlong handicap at Newmarket last July.

He goes into the race on an upward trajectory, and he could go well at a decent price.