Saturday’s Ascot racing tips & quaddie | December 23, 2023
| What | Ted Van Heemst Stakes Day |
| Where | Ascot Racecourse – 71 Grandstand Rd, Ascot WA 6104 |
| When | Saturday, December 23, 2023 |
| First Race | 12:29pm AWST |
The Group 2 Ted Van Heemst Stakes will headline a nine-race card at Ascot Racecourse this Saturday afternoon. With no rain forecast for Perth this weekend, we expect the track to stay in the Good range for the whole meeting. The rail will be in the +5m position for the entire circuit, with the opening race set to kick off at 12:29pm AWST.
Ted Van Heemst Stakes Tip: Marocchino
Marocchino will be seeking to claim back-to-back Ted Van Heemst Stakes when he competes in the Group 2 contest for the third straight year. The Lou Luciani-trained galloper won at massive odds in the Group 3 Asian Beau Stakes earlier this preparation before competing at Group 1 level in his last two starts. This son of Maschino will rise in distance to 2100m for the first time this campaign and should be peaking for his target race. With Troy Turner on board, Marocchino will push forward from barrier three and give the small field something to chase.
Ted Van Heemst Stakes
Race 6 – 
#3 Marocchino (3)
7yo Gelding | T: Lou Luciani | J: Troy Turner (59kg)
Best Bet at Ascot: Duchess Of Gossip
Duchess Of Gossip drops sharply in grade from Listed level to a Benchmark 66+ contest. The Dion Luciani-trained mare has finished third and fourth in her two starts in Listed grade this preparation, where she was held up in the home straight on both occasions. After drawing barrier 10, Brad Parnham will have to push forward and sit outside the likely leader, Ima Single Girl, and take luck out of the equation. If Duchess Of Gossip gets across without doing too much work, she will prove extremely difficult to run down.
Best Bet
Race 8 – 
#1 Duchess Of Gossip (4)
4yo Mare | T: Dion Luciani | J: Brad Parnham (59kg)
Next Best at Ascot: Supersession
Supersession will be looking to build on a strong performance first-up over 1000m at this track on December 9. This four-year-old gelding settled near the rear of the field before letting down with a blistering turn of foot to finish third, beaten 1.2 lengths by Hanchi. Now that this son of Sessions is second-up and rising in distance to 1200m, this race appears ideal for him to return to winning ways. The wide barrier (14) is no concern, as he will settle near the back of the field and look to finish over the top of his rivals.
Next Best
Race 9 – 
#8 Supersession (14)
4yo Gelding | T: Adam Durrant | J: Clint Johnston-Porter (56.5kg)
Best Value at Ascot: Here For Cheques
Here For Cheques was narrowly beaten last start at this track over 1400m, where he settled behind the leaders before pushing through a gap to take over and lead until the final strides. That was his best run of the preparation, and he should be primed to build on that this weekend. Although this son of Universal Ruler has drawn wide in barrier 13, Patrick Carbery will use his mount’s good gate speed to push forward and settle outside the leader, Black Spirit, from where they can control the race and run it to suit themselves.
Best Value
Race 4 – 
#8 Here For Cheques (13)
4yo Gelding | T: Bernie Miller | J: Patrick Carbery (56kg)
Saturday quaddie tips for Ted Van Heemst Stakes Day
Ascot quadrella selections
Saturday, December 23, 2023
- 1-2-3
- 1-2-3-4-7-13
- 1-3-4
- 5-8