Palmer hoping Gifted Master will provide connections an Ascot present

The seven-year-old is a veteran at the track.

Hugo Palmer will look to Gifted Master to get his team off to a flying start at next week’s Royal Ascot.

The seven-year-old is due to make his seasonal return in the seven-furlong Buckingham Palace Handicap, which will be the opening event at this year’s rejigged fixture.

Gifted Master will be having his fourth start at the Royal meeting having previously contested the 2016 Jersey Stakes and the 2018 King’s Stand before finishing down the field in the ultra-competitive Wokingham over six furlongs last year.

Palmer said: “He possibly has just lost a yard of pace now that he’s seven, but he’s a winner over five, six, seven and eight furlongs and the reinstatement of the seven-furlong handicap, the Buckingham Palace, is the perfect spot for him.

“Gifted Master has been an absolute star for us, he’s won GBP 760,000 in prize money, he’s won Group races over six furlongs and a mile. He won the last two editions of the Tattersalls Millions Series, he won a Stewards’ Cup off top weight and we are now going to try to win a Royal Ascot race with him.”

Acquitted could make a quick reappearance for Palmer after chasing home the well-regarded Palace Pier at Newcastle last Saturday with the new Golden Gates Handicap, the Hampton Court Stakes and the Britannia all on Palmer’s radar.

He added: “We hope this horse is progressive, he’s done everything to suggest he is.

“He wouldn’t want very fast ground, but the heatwave seems to have abated for now. Good ground would suit him.”

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Hugo Palmer Royal Ascot Festival

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