Best Bets for Opening Day at Ascot.

Racing returns to Ascot this Saturday with a bumper 10-race card and plenty of points of interest across the day.

Great weather is forecast in the west with the track rated a Good 4 at the time of writing and the rail will be in the True position.

The day kicks off with the opening juvenile race of the season, which is always exciting, flowing into Race five which isa very handy sprint race over the 1000m journey with All Play and Kay Tee Why at the top of betting.

Asphalt is an interesting horse on resumption who shapes as a progressive type, but whether he can do it on top of the ground now is the question he has to answer on Saturday.

The Max Simmonds Stakes sees Karrakatta Plate winner Talkanco back to the races, giving weight to her rivals for that G2 victory. Plenty of talented types line up there in what looks a pretty handy set of 3YO's, headed by King Of Light - who has been at the trials recently.

And we can't forget about Opportunistic, the unbeaten gelding who was very impressive in the winter, securing the Belmont Guineas at just his third outing with all sights set on the Railway Stakes.

Interestingly, CJP doesn't ride Opportunistic despite being with him the whole way through, partnering First Encounter for the same connections instead which is another point of interest.

For all that, I haven't mentioned the Best Bet of the day which will come up early on with LINCHPIN in race two.

The three-year-old was very impressive on debut, running away to win by 1-1/2 lengths over the 1400m at Belmont.

While it may look like he was finishing fast, a read of the sectionals shows that he was in a good spot in the run as they went hard up front, but it's the late strength and opportunity to sit closer to the speed on Saturday that makes him attractive.

The figure he produced to win was very solid and he has stacks of upside, something which most of these lack.

There may be less speed engaged on Saturday, but everything points to him improving off the debut performance, and he'll be very hard to hold out if he does.

Later on in the day, ALL PLAY in race five looks a good bet to take on the favourite.

We only saw him once last campaign, finishing 0.8L and pulling up with an issue when a $3.60 chance just a week out from The Quokka.

He went for a spell following that performance, and his recent trial showed he was back on song.

He'll be able to sit close to the speed from his favourable alley and with an impressive fresh record, he's very appealing at the early price.

Kay Tee Why ran a good RAS Rating first-up when heavily backed and has shown some adaptability in his races early in his career.

I think All Play holds ace hand on the speed map, and with plenty of ratings up to what Kay Tee Why ran fresh, I'm happy to be in his corner on resumption.

Best From The West

Race 2 #11 LINCHPIN

Race 5 #3 ALL PLAY

Race 8 #10 SNITZALATTE (each-way)