With Royal Ascot and the Derby Festival at Epsom taking place across the course of next month, flat racing fans up and down the nation will be rubbing their hands in anticipation. Pencilled into the calendar for the first weekend of June, the Derby Festival is up first and there’s plenty of races to look forward to, including the Coronation Cup, the Oaks and of course the Derby itself.

With such big events, sites like Betdaq will be inundated with punters hoping to land a few winners at the historic meetings. So, with the Coronation Cup — which will take place on June 4^th — the first race in the calendar, let’s look at the horses leading the way in the betting market. Read on to find out more!

Japan – 11/4

After a very disappointing season last year — where Japan failed to win any of its five races — the five-year-old trained by Aidan O’Brien was back in winning ways at Chester earlier this month. With Ryan Moore in the saddle, Japan set off as the 13/8 favourite and the duo duly delivered — narrowly beating Hollie Doyle and Trueshan over the line. That victory has propelled Japan into the 11/4 favourite to win the Coronation Cup and its backers will certainly be hoping that the horse is up to the task.

Al Aasy – 9/2

Al Aasy’s career has been somewhat of a mixed bag thus far. He came home in third in his debut back in October 2019 before finishing fifth in his first race of last season. He then went on to win successive outings at Newmarket in June and July but followed that up with a disappointing display at Goodwood — where he finished last in the John Pearce Racing Gordon Stakes. He’s started this season well with a victory at Newbury and it will be interesting to see if he can back that up at Epsom.

Armory – 11/2

After finishing third in his debut in June 2019, Armory went on to win three races on the spin. However, the O’Brien trained horse has largely failed to hit those heights since. He went five races without victory before finally ending the draught with a win at the Curragh, although two more races without success followed. He’s got this season off to a winning start with victory at Chester, and there’s no doubt that the Irish trainer will be hoping that he can build on that throughout this season — starting with a decent run in the Coronation Cup.

Love – 6/1

It’ll be interesting to see which horse Moore chooses to ride in the Coronation Cup as he been in the saddle of Japan, Armory and Love of late. With the former being the favourite, he seems like the obvious choice. However, Love’s form could sway the jockey’s decision. The four-year-old had an incredible season last year, winning the 1000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket, the Oaks at Epsom and the Yorkshire Oaks at York. Landing a victory in the Coronation Cup would be a fantastic start to the season and would pave the way nicely for further success at Royal Ascot.

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In Swoop is also (6/1) whilst Broome (7/1), Hukum (8/1), Pyledriver (8/1) and Wonderful Tonight (8/1) are all next in line.