The fourth day is over and there’s no doubting what the highlight was. Indeed, Alpha Centauri’s win was the standout equine display of the week. It was none too shabby a performance from her trainer, Jessica Harrington, either. The Irish trainer is best known for her exploits over jumps. She has won the Champion Hurdle, the Champion Chase and the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival and while she has had classy horses on the Flat this was her first Group One winner in Britain and her first at Royal Ascot. The official handicapper is rating Alpha Centauri the best Coronation Stakes winner for many years and that’s no surprise. We don’t know yet where she will be racing next but racing followers can’t wait.
Don’t forget to join us tomorrow – it’s a Saturday and that will mean the biggest crowd of the week. The adding of an extra (weekend) day has been superbly successful and helped popularise Britain’s premier Flat meeting. Crystal Ocean should strut his stuff in the Hardwicke Stakes and the Diamond Jubilee sprint features a fascinating clash between the Australian challenger Redkirk Warrior and the brilliant Godolphin runner Harry Angel. The sun will be shining and you’ll have no excuse. Fire up the laptop and we’ll be here from around midday onwards.
Updated
Duke of Edinburgh (5.30) result
1 Dash Of Spice (S De Sousa) 7-2 Fav
2 Sir Chauvelin (D Tudhope) 33-1
3 Walton Street (W Buick) 7-1
4 Appeared (Andrea Atzeni) 8-1
Updated
Duke of Edinburgh Stakes (5.35)
And they’re off ... Nayel is an early leader ... Thundering Blue is right out the back ... Count Calabash has taken up the running ... Appeared is travelling well in third ... Crowned Eagle is challenging ... Appeared kicks for home ... Dash Of Spice takes the lead and clears away ...
Updated
Duke of Edinburgh Stakes (5.35) betting
- 4-1 Dash Of Spice
- 6-1 Thundering Blue
- 15-2 Eynhallow
- 15-2 Walton Street
- 17-2 Count Calabash
- 10-1 Appeared
- Full betting here
Duke of Edinburgh Stakes (5.35) preview
Beaten only by a very well handicapped rival in this race last year, Appeared is just 2lb higher and will be a big player if in the same form as the rest of Roger Varian’s older horses this year.
Sandringham Stakes (5.00) result
1 Agrotera (J P Spencer) 11-2 Fav
2 Ortiz (Hollie Doyle) 66-1
3 Escape The City (K T O’Neill) 66-1
4 Desert Diamond (Josephine Gordon) 10-1
Sandringham Stakes (5.00)
And they’re off ... Why We Dream and Betty F are off fast ... with Perfection all on her own on the farside ... Ortiz is making a move ... Qazyna going well ... Agrotera comes through to grab the spoils and land a proper gamble.
Updated
Jessica Harrington has been back on ITV Racing and said she will discuss plans for Alpha Centauri with the owners. Would be wonderful to see the winner at the Breeders’ Cup later in the year and though she was coy on that idea it would seem to be an obvious plan given the owner’s history of sending top-class horses there.
Jessica Harrington and Colm O’Donoghue celebrate winning the Coronation Stakes with Alpha Centauri. Photograph: Paul Childs/Reuters
Updated
Eqtidaar lifts Commonwealth Cup
Eqtidaar clung on for victory in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. Sir Michael Stoute’s three-year-old had failed to win in three starts since making a successful racecourse debut at Nottingham last summer, and was sent off at 12-1 for what looked another hot renewal of this six-furlong Group One.
Stoute was saddling his third winner of the week and said: “We’ve always liked this horse. When he ran here in the Pavilion Stakes last year it didn’t go quite right for him and at Newbury (last time) he was on the wrong side of the track and at halfway he was beaten.
Angus Gold, racing manager for winning owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, said: “They always thought a lot of him after he won first time out. He disappointed at Kempton and he came back full off muck and he scoped dirty. We’ve not discussed his future. It was just nice to get that under the belt. He’s top of our league, obviously. Let’s see what Sir Michael and Sheikh Hamdan want to do. He is quite a big, long horse and in terms of the July Cup, whether that [Newmarket] is his track, I’m not sure.” PA
Updated
Sandringham Stakes (5.00) betting
- 11-2 Agrotera
- 11-1 Ganayem
- 12-1 Desert Diamond
- 12-1 Hence
- 12-1 Qazyna
- 14-1 Ceilidhs Dream
- 14-1 Poetic Charm
- Full betting here
Sandringham Stakes (5.00) preview
A big-field handicap featuring lightly raced fillies is no one’s ideal punting vehicle but Poetic Charm looks over-priced at 14-1. She showed a good level of ability last year, when she won two of her three starts, but is bred to be better this year, being a daughter of Dubawi. While she is unraced since September, Charlie Appleby’s three-year-olds have been flying along this year at a 33% strike-rate, with the Derby just one of many prizes that have fallen to them, and it would not be a complete surprise if she had been saved with this in mind.
Jessica Harrington, the winning trainer of the Coronation Stakes, has been talking to ITV Racing about that exciting performance by Alpha Centauri. We didn’t get any wiser about what the plan might be as she wasn’t asked unfortunately. All racing fans will be keen to discover where this horse runs next.
Coronation Stakes (4.20) result
1 Alpha Centauri (C O’Donoghue) 11-4 Fav
2 Threading (W Buick) 7-1
3 Veracious (L Dettori) 14-1
Updated
Coronation Stakes (4.20)
And they’re off ... Aim Of Artemis is running wide ... Veracious has the lead and Aim Of Artemis joins the main pack ... Veracious goes for home but Alpha Centauri challenges and goes clear ... And that was the most impressive single performance of the week ... That was a joy to watch and that filly is going to take some beating in future races.
Updated
Coronation Stakes (4.20) betting
- 3-1 Alpha Centauri
- 11-2 Clemmie
- 6-1 Billesdon Brook
- 8-1 Teppal
- 8-1 Threading
- 10-1 Veracious
- 12-1 Coeur De Beaute
- Full betting here
Coronation Stakes (4.20) preview
To underestimate a filly once is unfortunate but to do it twice would be reprehensible, particularly in the case of Billesdon Brook, whose Guineas success looks a very solid piece of form indeed. Those that finished in the next six places have advertised the quality of that race again and again and she can show up her doubters by landing the Coronation Stakes on day four at Royal Ascot. The Oaks runner-up and the French Oaks winner were among those she beat fair and square that day. Nor was it the first time she had shown impressive speed on fast ground. She gets her ground again and looks the right bet at 13-2, despite a nagging doubt about the form of her stable.
Commonwealth Cup (3.40) result
1 Eqtidaar (Jim Crowley) 12-1
2 Sands Of Mali (P Hanagan) 15-2
3 Emblazoned (L Dettori) 12-1
Commonwealth Cup (3.40)
And they’re off ... Main Desire missed the kick ... Unfortunately well outpaced ... Abel Handy is prominent ... Gidu goes well ... Emblazoned and Eqtidaar come through and Eqtidaar gets there ... That’s a third winner for Sir Michael Stoute this week, the winner benefiting from a collapse in the pace. Sioux Nation was a huge disappointment and came under pressure from halfway. Sands Of Mali made a lot of ground up to finish second and was a big eyecatcher.
Updated
Sioux Nation is strongly fancied for the Commonwealth Cup ...
A classy field of 22 declared for Friday's Commonwealth Cup!
— Champions Series (@ChampionsSeries) June 20, 2018
Can SIOUX NATION land back-to-back wins in the race for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore? pic.twitter.com/7m7aoLPciN
Old Persian rules in King Edward
Old Persian was a clear-cut winner of the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot. Charlie Appleby saddled Masar to win the Derby at Epsom and was enjoying his second Royal Ascot winner of the week following Blue Point’s triumph in the King’s Stand on Tuesday.
He said: “Last season we had a great team of two-year-olds, they all wintered well and came into the spring in great nick. This horse has done nothing but progress through the spring. Will [Buick] made a great manoeuvre after the first two or three furlongs to sit on Frankie’s [Dettori, on Raa Atoll] quarters and once he hit the front I was confident he would see it out well. I’m delighted for the team. We’ll enjoy today and regroup over the next week or two.” PA
Commonwealth Cup (3.40) betting
- 3-1 Sioux Nation
- 11-2 Equilateral
- 6-1 Invincible Army
- 9-1 Sands of mali
- 16-1 Eqtidaar
- 18-1 Emblazoned
- 25-1 Fleet Review
- 25-1 Main Desire
- Full betting here
Commonwealth Cup (3.40) preview
Aidan O’Brien could be in for a big finish to the week, as his Sioux Nation gives him a big chance here, in a race he won last year. A son of Scat Daddy, who has proved such a strong influence for top-class speed, he won the Norfolk at Royal Ascot last year, followed up in a Group One in Ireland and promised better to come with the way he won his warm-up race for this at Naas last month. Equilateral is worth a try at this level, having won a novice contest so easily at Doncaster last month, but his stable has been short of winners lately, for all that a couple of stablemates have gone close here this week.
King Edward VII Stakes (3.05) result
1 Old Persian (W Buick) 9-2
2 Rostropovich (D O’Brien) 7-1
3 Giuseppe Garibaldi (J A Heffernan) 15-2
Updated
King Edward VII Stakes (3.05)
And they’re off ... Raa Atoll leads from Rostropovich ... Old Persian has moved into second ... Frankie has slowed the pace in front seemingly ... Old Persian leads with Guiseppe Garibaldi trying to make ground ... but Old Persian holds on ... Godolphin have another winner this week and their trainer, Charlie Appleby, is having an excellent season highlighted by his victory with Masar in the Derby.
Updated
Main Edition proves big attraction
Main Edition maintained her unbeaten record with victory in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot. Mark Johnston’s filly followed up her debut win at Windsor with a runaway success at Goodwood three weeks ago and she was a 7-1 shot stepped up to Group Three level in Berkshire. Johnston said: “We came here knowing that she was pretty useful after two runs and two wins. We think our team of two-year-old fillies this year is very strong and this is was one of the leading bunch. It’s great for her and it says a lot for all the others as well.”
Paddy Power introduced the winner at 16-1 for next year’s 1000 Guineas, with RaceBets going 14-1. Johnston said: “I think it’s very early days to talk about that, although we were joking with the owner that we’d be back here next year for the Coronation Stakes after she’s won the Guineas! The media and the bookies will all start talking about it now, but there’s a lot of big two-year-old races before we come round to that. Let’s get this year out of the way and see where she stands.” PA
King Edward VII Stakes (3.05) betting
- 5-2 Delano Roosevelt
- 4-1 Raa Atoll
- 7-1 Old Persian
- 15-2 Rostropovich
- 8-1 Giuseppe Garibaldi
- 11-1 Wells Farhh Go
- 18-1 Elector
- 33-1 Highbrow
- 66-1 Alternative Fact
- Full betting here
King Edward VII Stakes (3.05) preview
It’s 14 years since Aidan O’Brien won this race for the one and only time, which is a bit worrying because few trainers would have suitable runners for this race as often as he would. But he’s having a good week with three-year-old colts that weren’t quite up to Classic level, following the wins of Hunting Horn and Kew Gardens, so it could be worth giving another chance to Delano Roosevelt. He stayed on to be sixth in the Derby and may do better around this more conventional track. The unexposed Wells Farhh Go is an interesting alternative.
About time!
There was some potentially significant news for the sport released last night when it was announced that Ascot would start publishing sectional timing at the track. It’s a topic I’ve been coming back to ALL my racing life - and I started in racing journalism in 1986. How can we start to analyse a race unless we have the means to use times? It starts with the race commentary and phrases such as “looks a good pace” etc. I don’t blame the commentators though. They have no idea because we are not seeing times as they are being run. How can those who study racing analyse fully afterwards unless we have the recorded sectionals of the race? How can racing be sold as a mature betting medium unless the sport does this? The only way we started to realise about how good Tuesday’s impressive Royal Ascot winner Calyx was was through the clock. Chris Cook wrote about the announcement in a story the Guardian published yesterday. You can read all about it here:
Albany Stakes (2.30) result
1 Main Edition (James Doyle) 7-1
2 La Pelosa (W Buick) 12-1
3 Fairyland (J A Heffernan) 5-2
Updated
Albany Stakes (2.30)
And they’re off ... Stillwater Cove is already four lengths clear ... Main Edition leads on the nearside ... Fairyland is finishing well ... Main Edition still leads ... and holds on from La Pelosa ... The winning filly was highly rated by her trainer Mark Johnston and could prove pretty useful. The favourite, Just Wonderful, is not bred to be ideally suited by six furlongs and is one to note when back over farther.
Updated
The bookies are getting worried ...
It's definitely advantage bookies so far this week at Ascot but there's a bad feeling in the office the punters are about to strike back - we've seen plenty of support for the first four favourites in trebles and four folds. Can Just Wonderful get them off to the perfect start? pic.twitter.com/7Rm9scGA9G
— Bet Geoff Banks (@BetGeoffBanks) June 22, 2018
Albany Stakes (2.30) betting
- 9-4 Just Wonderful
- 100-30 Fairyland
- 8-1 main Edition
- 11-1 Angels Hideaway
- 12-1 La Pelosa
- 20-1 Byrons Bay
- 20-1 Octave
- Full betting here
Albany Stakes (2.30) preview
Mark Johnston seems to have a smart juvenile in Main Edition, unbeaten in her two runs so far and an impressive winner at Goodwood three weeks ago after travelling kindly round that tricky course. She’s a half-sister to one Royal Ascot winner, Beachfire, and also to the classy Major Cadeaux, beaten less than a length in the Coventry. Wesley Ward put in a good word for his Stillwater Cove after another of his youngsters won yesterday but his two-year-old winners at Ascot have been over five furlongs and the last 200 yards here might be a stretch for the US raider.
Who's being backed?
It is just under 20 minutes before the first race of the afternoon on day four at Royal Ascot and Sioux Nation, in the Commonwealth Cup, looks like being the best-backed runner of the day. Aidan O’Brien’s sprinter has emerged as the 7-2 favourite for the first Group One of the day, while Equilateral, who was vying for top spot in the market this morning, has drifted out by a point to a top price of 5-1.
Another of Ryan Moore’s mounts, Delano Roosvelt in the King Edward VII Stakes, is also attracting solid support and is now top-priced at 5-2 having been available at 3-1 this morning. Raa Atoll, Frankie Dettori’s partner in the same race, is also popular and is in to 4-1 (from 5-1), while Old Persian is on the drift and out to 13-2 to give William Buick his third winner of the week.
A couple of fillies at each-way prices have attracted support in the Coronation Stakes. Teppal has been nibbled at from 10-1 earlier in the day and is now top-priced at 17-2, while Mark Johnston’s Threading, briefly available at prices up to 12-1 earlier on, is now no bigger than 8-1.
Updated
Queen's Hat (2.00) Stakes result
1st Green 2-1 fav
Updated
Royal Procession Stakes (2.00)
And here are the runners and riders ...
1st Carriage
THE QUEEN
The Earl of Snowdon
Mr. Peter Troughton
Mr. John Warren
2nd Carriage
Sir Nicholas Bacon
Lady Bacon
The Hon. Edward Tollemache
The Hon. Mrs. Edward Tollemache
3rd Carriage
Mr. William Wyatt
Mrs. William Wyatt
The Lady Carolyn Warren
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Richards
4th Carriage
Lieutenant Colonel James Gaselee
Mrs. James Gaselee
Mr. Nicholas Henderson
Mrs. Nicholas Henderson
Do you think by the time William is coming down the track where the Queen sits, the women in the Royal procession carriages will have their own names in this list?
It’s almost that time ... for the royal procession down the centre of the track. I attended a Serpentine gallery exhibition by artist Mark Wallinger back in 1994 when one of his installations, called ‘Royal Ascot’, consisted of a series of video monitors on top of wheeled flight cases, each isolating the royal carriage’s leisurely progress down the track on the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (respectively, as it was then) of the meeting with the added TV commentary.
The British Council described the work thus: ‘Simultaneous footage exposes precise choreography: the Queen’s frozen smile and rigid curls, the tilt of her head, her gloved wave, the Duke of Edinburgh raising his top hat, the national anthem striking up. Appropriately for an event whose media coverage focuses on the parade of hats and dresses rather than the sport, here we have a close-up on clothes, on the Queen’s dolly mixture of pinks, tangerines, limes; the difference from day to day is barely discernible, just as the four BBC commentaries merge in a confused blather. This repetition of imagery, all backed by bright green turf, brings into play Andy Warhol’s late screenprints of Elizabeth II from his ‘Reigning Queens’ series (1985), a quartet of the postage stamp icon in camp conjugations of Hollywood make-up and bubblegum colours.’
The Duke of Edinburgh, who has retired from royal duties and apparently hated his trips down the road from Windsor Castle to the races, is missing but little else has changed including the blather. This is last year’s ITV broadcast. See if you can spot the difference ...
Continuing our series on why not to travel by train to Royal Ascot, the Dominican jockey Joel Rosario featured in a diary item in the Times today. For those that can’t get over the paywall here is the piece: ‘Joel Rosario who coaxed home Shang Shang Shang to win the opening Norfolk Stakes [on Thursday] by a nose, revealed that he has learnt from previous experience at the royal meeting. After he rode his previous winner there, No Nay Never in the same race back in 2013, he took the train back to London. Anyone who has taken that journey during the royal meeting will tell you that it’s an unpleasant experience and Rosario said: “I’m taking a taxi back today”.’ Enough said.
Updated
I can pass on some good news about the carriage horses who smashed their way into a clothes shop on Ascot High Street yesterday. Both will recover form their injuries and there is no danger to their lives, according to two grooms I spoke to who were working with other carriage horses here on Friday morning. The grooms did not wish to be named because they work for a rival firm to the one whose carriage was involved in the crash. However, they say that the horses involved are based this week at the same Windsor-area stable as their team and report that both have survived with nothing more serious than cuts and abrasions.
The carriages are typically pulled by four horses and none of the four involved in Thursday’s crash are working on Friday; only the leading pair were apparently injured, when they collided with a shop window after bolting downhill and across a roundabout. A witness described one of the horses as lying on its side on the pavement while onlookers tried to stem the flow of blood from its side. A horse ambulance arrived soon after and it appears efforts to save the horse have been successful.
Queen's Hat (2.00) Stakes
After three days of pointing backers in the right direction this week this could get tricky. My titfer tipster is plumping for purple but one thing is sure this has been a glum week for layers offering odds on the monarch’s Hat Stakes and apparently green is the colour of choice for backers today.
“Last year was one of the best ever but after three days of the public predicting the correct colour of the Queen’s hat, this has resulted in the most expensive for this particular novelty bet on record at Royal Ascot,” said Alexander Kostin of Bonuscodebets.co.uk.
Today’s betting: 2-1 Green, 3-1 Orange, 4-1 White, 5-1 Blue, 5-1 Purple, 6-1 Pink, 10-1 Red, 20-1 Silver, 25-1 Gold, 50-1 Black.
Quick guide to Friday's tips
2.30 Albany Stakes Main Edition 13-2
3.05 King Edward VII Stakes Delano Roosevelt 3-1
3.40 Commonwealth Cup Sioux Nation 9-2
4.20 Coronation Stakes Billesdon Brook 6-1
5.00 Queen’s Vase Poetic Charm 14-1
5.35 Duke of Edinburgh Handicap Appeared 11-1
Some restraint has taken over here, with four tips at 13-2 or shorter and two of them from the Aidan O’Brien yard which started the week poorly but has since found its stride, much as it did at Royal Ascot last year. Delano Roosevelt, Sioux Nation plus the Guineas winner to repeat in the Coronation counts as a pretty conservative set of tips by my standards, although in this case a lot of people seem to have decided the Guineas winner cannot be trusted to follow up.
Trainers' leaderboard
John Gosden 4 wins
Aidan O’Brien 3
Sir Michael Stoute 2
Charlie Appleby 1
Willie Mullins 1
Marco Botti 1
Eve Johnson Houghton 1
David Marnane 1
John Quinn 1
Simon Crisford 1
Mark Johnston 1
Wesley Ward 1
Like his jockey, Gosden will be ruing defeat for First Eleven in the last race yesterday. O’Brien is 1-2 with most firms to be top trainer by the end of racing on Saturday, while Gosden is available at 13-8. In other news, Wesley Ward is a winner at Ascot for the sixth year in a row and the 10th time in all.
Jockeys' leaderboard
Frankie Dettori 4 wins
Ryan Moore 3
William Buick 2
Andrea Atzeni 2
Oisin Murphy 1
Charles Bishop 1
James Doyle 1
Billy Lee 1
James McDonald 1
Silvestre de Sousa 1
Joel Rosario 1
Ryan Moore closed the gap with a double yesterday, than Frankie went back in front with Gold Cup victory. But there was a sting in the tail of the Italian’s day, as he was undoubtedly on the best handicapped horse, First Eleven, in the King George V but couldn’t get a clear run and finished only third. “That’s horse racing,” he told me grimly as he returned with the saddle. It is also the reason why he’s on offer at 6-4 with several firms to end the Royal meeting as top jockey, while Moore is odds-on.
Race-by-race guide
2.30 Albany Stakes Mark Johnston seems to have a smart juvenile in Main Edition, unbeaten in her two runs so far and an impressive winner at Goodwood three weeks ago after travelling kindly round that tricky course. She’s a half-sister to one Royal Ascot winner, Beachfire, and also to the classy Major Cadeaux, beaten less than a length in the Coventry. Wesley Ward put in a good word for his Stillwater Cove after another of his youngsters won yesterday but his two-year-old winners at Ascot have been over five furlongs and the last 200 yards here might be a stretch for the US raider.
3.05 King Edward VII Stakes It’s 14 years since Aidan O’Brien won this race for the one and only time, which is a bit worrying because few trainers would have suitable runners for this race as often as he would. But he’s having a good week with three-year-old colts that weren’t quite up to Classic level, following the wins of Hunting Horn and Kew Gardens, so it could be worth giving another chance to Delano Roosevelt. He stayed on to be sixth in the Derby and may do better around this more conventional track. The unexposed Wells Farhh Go is an interesting alternative.
3.40 Commonwealth Cup O’Brien could be in for a big finish to the week, as his Sioux Nation gives him a big chance here, in a race he won last year. A son of Scat Daddy, who has proved such a strong influence for top-class speed, he won the Norfolk at Royal Ascot last year, followed up in a Group One in Ireland and promised better to come with the way he won his warm-up race for this at Naas last month. Equilateral is worth a try at this level, having won a novice contest so easily at Doncaster last month, but his stable has been short of winners lately, for all that a couple of stablemates have gone close here this week.
4.20 Coronation Stakes To underestimate a filly once is unfortunate but to do it twice would be reprehensible, particularly in the case of Billesdon Brook, whose Guineas success looks a very solid piece of form indeed. Those that finished in the next six places have advertised the quality of that race again and again and she can show up her doubters by landing the Coronation Stakes on day four at Royal Ascot. The Oaks runner-up and the French Oaks winner were among those she beat fair and square that day. Nor was it the first time she had shown impressive speed on fast ground. She gets her ground again and looks the right bet at 13-2, despite a nagging doubt about the form of her stable.
5.00 Sandringham Handicap A big-field handicap featuring lightly raced fillies is no one’s ideal punting vehicle but Poetic Charm looks over-priced at 14-1. She showed a good level of ability last year, when she won two of her three starts, but is bred to be better this year, being a daughter of Dubawi. While she is unraced since September, Charlie Appleby’s three-year-olds have been flying along this year at a 33% strike-rate, with the Derby just one of many prizes that have fallen to them, and it would not be a complete surprise if she had been saved with this in mind.
5.35 Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap Beaten only by a very well handicapped rival in this race last year, Appeared is just 2lb higher and will be a big player if in the same form as the rest of Roger Varian’s older horses this year.
Updated
Ladbrokes Royal Ascot tipping competition
You could win a £50 bet from Ladbrokes by proving your tipping prowess on today’s races. All you have to do is give us your selections for all of today’s races at Ascot. As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price. Non-runners count as losers.
Please post all your tips in a single posting, using the comment facility below, before the first race at 2.30pm. There are six races at Ascot today and you must post a single selection for each race.
Our usual terms and conditions, which you can read here [ http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/sep/07/talking-horses-tipping-competition-terms-and-conditions?guni=Article:in%20body%20link] will apply, except that this will be a strictly one-day thing. If we get a tie after all the races have been run, the winner will be the one who posted their tips earliest out of those with the highest score.
Thanks for playing our competition this week! This is our final day running the Ascot competition. We’ll return with more competitions for the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Congratulations to carl31, who won Thursday’s competition on a final score of +15. He can’t have been feeling too hopeful after the Gold Cup, at which point he’d had nothing but losers, but he then hit both Ostilio (10-1) AND Baghdad (9-1). Well done, sir! We’ll be in touch by email.
Please post your tips or racing-related comments below.
Updated
… The principals offer the classic choice between proven class and potential, as Sioux Nation took the Norfolk Stakes here last year during a busy juvenile campaign while Equilateral arrives with only three starts in novice events to his name. The last of those was an eight-length success, which takes some doing in any company, but he still has plenty to find on paper to trouble Sioux Nation.
Victory for Sioux Nation would be a big boost for Ryan Moore in his attempt to finish the meeting as the leading jockey for the eighth time in nine years, and Friday looks a lot like it needs to be “moving day” for Moore, who starts the day one win behind Frankie Dettori. Moore rides the likely favourite in the first three races and the second-favourite in the fourth, while the shortest-priced runner in Dettori’s book of rides is Raa Atoll, a 5-1 chance for the King Edward VII Stakes at 3.05.
Updated
Good morning
The fourth day at Royal Ascot was once something of the week’s poor relation, the place where some of the meeting’s less significant events were washed up when the event expanded to five days and there was nowhere else to put them. It has been much revived, though, by the arrival of the Group One Commonwealth Cup three years ago to support the Coronation Stakes, which just goes to show what can be achieved when you are willing to bend the rules just a little.
There are roughly 10,000 horse races in Britain each year and only 36 of those have the Group One status, which puts them at the very pinnacle of the pyramid. It is supposed to be earned over a period of years, or even decades, rather than handed out on request. It does seem to help when those doing the requesting have a connection to the Queen, however. The Commonwealth Cup was a Group One from the word go and it has certainly delivered on its promise, swiftly becoming a rival for the Coronation Stakes as the feature event of the afternoon.
Last year’s renewal was the best yet, as Caravaggio beat Harry Angel, a subsequent dual Group One winner and the favourite for Saturday’s Diamond Jubilee Stakes, and Blue Point, who took the King’s Stand Stakes here on Tuesday.
Caravaggio was odds-on to beat 11 opponents 12 months ago, but this year’s Commonwealth Cup provides a very different challenge for the punters, with a full field of 22 runners due to go to post and two horses – Sioux Nation and Equilateral – vying for favouritism at 4-1 (the same price as the market leader for the 28-runner Wokingham Handicap tomorrow) …
Updated
