Coventry Stakes Odds: Cowardofthecounty favourite for first juvenile race at Royal Ascot

It's a father against son battle at the top of the market for the first big two-year-old race at Royal Ascot on Tuesday, the Coventry Stakes, which is the second event on the card at 3.05pm.

The Group 2 event combines with three Group 1s in a sensational first couple of hours at the famous meeting. The high-class juvenile race over six furlongs has drawn a huge field of 23 runners.

The current favourite is Cowardofthecounty from the Joseph O'Brien stable but Camille Pissarro, trained by his father Aidan O'Brien, is not far behind.

Coventry Stakes Odds

(Odds will display when market is available)

Cowardofthecounty

Despite the unknowns associated with a large field of inexperienced two-year-olds, the market has been a solid guide to the Coventry in recent years, with four of the last eight favourites winning. 

There was a huge shock in the race in 2020, though, when Nando Parrado won for the Clive Cox stable at 150/1, but that was the only winner of the race at bigger odds than 11/1 in the last decade.

Irish raider Cowardofthecounty, a once-raced Kodi Bear colt, caught the eye on his debut at the Curragh, winning a six-furlong maiden on soft to heavy going by two-and-a-half lengths. He took his time to get going that day but the runner-up, Whistlejacket, has since won a Listed race comfortably, so the form looks solid.

Camille Pissarro

Aidan O'Brien has won this race 10 times, including with River Tiber last year, but only one of those horses had been beaten in their previous race. His Wootton Bassett colt Camille Pissarro cost 1,250,000 guineas and won at Navan before coming second in a Group 3 event at the Curragh.

That race has been used by the trainer to prepare four of his Coventry winners, so he merits respect as the master handler's only entry this year.

Andesite

Andesite carries the hopes of the Karl Burke stable and the Yorkshire raider is a son of impressive Royal Ascot two-year-old winner Pinatubo. He's also a half-brother to the stable's Dramatised, which won at this meeting.

Andesite showed great determination to beat today's rival Yah Mo Be There in a strong race at York on his debut with the pair pulling clear of the field.

The Actor

The Richard Hannon-trained colt The Actor got off the mark at the second attempt when winning in the second of his two runs over five furlongs at Newmarket, with several of today's rivals behind.

He finished strongly that day, suggesting the extra furlong of this race should not be an issue.

Yah Mo Be There

Richard Spencer's Mohaather colt Yah Mo Be There is still a maiden after being pipped by Andesite at York, but he had a somewhat wayward passage that day and could be capable of reversing the placings after being beaten only a short head.

The stable won this race with 11/1 shot Rajasinghe in 2017 and Tom Marquand's mount could go off at around the same price.

Al Qudra

Charlie Appleby's representative Al Qudra is one of the most experienced horses in the field having raced three times already. 

He got off the mark in a six-furlong Lingfield novice event having previously finished behind Coventry rivals Arran and The Actor over the minimum trip.

Catalyse

This Starspangledbanner colt is owned by the big-spending Wathnan Racing operation and trained by Richard Fahey. 

He won a six-runner Hamilton event on his debut and jockey James Doyle has chosen to ride him ahead of the owner's other two runners in the race.

Francisco's Piece

Francisco's Piece is the other horse in the field with three previous runs and attracted market interest for this race after winning a Listed race over five furlongs in heavy ground at Chantilly. 

He's by the speedy Mayson, but could still benefit from the step up to six furlongs.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.