Key events
ROYAL ASCOT 3.40, DUKE OF EDINBURGH STAKES HANDICAP, 1M 4F preview
Greg Wood
This is the slot once occupied by the King Edward VII Stakes, which is now the sixth race on the card, and the Group Two was bounced to the early evening primarily to give World Pool punters in Hong Kong a juicy handicap just before bedtime. That says a lot about the competitiveness and unpredictability involved when 20+ runners hare around the mile-and-a-half course, but also about the importance of World Pool to Ascot in maintaining its prize money at an internationally competitive level. Hand Of God is a familiar name from last year, when he won the Golden Gates Handicap over 10 furlongs, and he has had only one run since – which he probably needed – when finishing ninth of 13 in a handicap at Newmarket. Ethical Diamond, fourth in this race last year and also fourth in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, runs for the Willie Mullins /Ryan Moore combination, while the Qatar-based Wathnan Racing operation has two runners, Almosh’her and French Duke. James Doyle, their retained jockey, would presumably have had the pick of the pair, and while Almosh’her is currently a point shorter in the betting, I’m inclinded to side with Doyle and go with French Duke, who will be having his first start of the season here.
SELECTION: FRENCH DUKE.
ROYAL ASCOT 3.05, COMMONWEALTH CUP, GROUP ONE, 3YO, 6F preview
Greg Wood
By the standards of most British racecourses and festival meetings, Royal Ascot has Group One races coming out of its ears, but it would still be a little embarrassing to lose one under the Group-race system’s quality-control rules, which is a threat that was hanging over this race 12 months ago. It was awarded Group One status when it was founded in 2015, which itself caused some muttering at tracks which can only hope to upgrade their races to the highest level the old-fashioned way – via significant investment, hard graft and patience – but the average end-of-year rating for the first four home in 2021 and 2022 was a long way below the required standard of 115. But it got the decent renewal it urgently needed last year, not least thanks to the subsequent exploits of Lake Forest, the runner-up behind Inisherin, who went on to win one of the world’s richest turf events, the $10m Golden Eagle in Australia. It would further ease the fears over a possible downgrade if Shadow Of Light, last year’s Dewhurst Stakes winner over seven furlongs, could get the job done dropping back to six, and he ran as though he could well be most effective at sprint trips when fading late into third in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. Babouche, last season’s Group One Phoenix Stakes winner at the Curragh, and Whistlejacket, second in the Phoenix and then the winner of the Prix Morny at Deauville, are two more high-achieving juveniles in the field, and also finished first and second respectively in a Group Three at Naas in mid-May. Among the less-exposed potential improvers, Jonquil, has serious claims on his close second to Henri Matisse in the French 2,000 Guineas, although the winner did not do much for the form in Tuesday’s St James’s Palace Stakes. William Haggas’s filly Sky Majesty, in the same colours as Lake Forest 12 months ago, was unbeaten in three starts as a juvenile including a Group Two on heavy ground at Chantilly in October, and while she was a beaten favourite on her three-year-old debut on the all-weather at Chelmsford in April, her super-shrewd trainer is hardly renowned for running horses out of their depth. And there was also a lot to like about the way Shisospicy went about her business in the Mamzelle Stakes at Churchill Downs in early May. Oisin Murphy is booked to ride for Jose D’Angelo and the daughter of Mitole, a cracking dirt sprinter in his time, has been attracting support this morning.
KEY FORM:
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2,000 Guineas, Newmarket 3 May 25 (Shadow Of Light)
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Phoenix Stakes, the Curragh, 10 Aug 24 (Babouche, Whistlejacket)
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Prix Morny, Deauville, 18 Aug 24 (Whistlejacket)
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Poule D’Essai Des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas), Longchamp 11 May 25 (Jonquil).
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Dewhurst Stakes, Newmarket 12 Oct 24 (Shadow Of Light)
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Lacken Stakes, Naas, 18 May 25 (Babouche, Whistlejacket)
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Mamzelle Stakes, Churchill Downs, 10 May 25 (Shisospicy)
SELECTION: SHADOW OF LIGHT.
ROYAL ASCOT 2.30, ALBANY STAKES, 2YO FILLIES, 6F preview
Greg Wood
The two-year-old fillies’ equivalent of Tuesday’s Coventry Stakes for colts has a fine recent record when it comes to identifying the stars of the future, with both Meditate (trained by Aidan O’Brien) and Porta Fortuna (saddled by his son, Donnacha) going on to win Group One races later in their careers. And all three of the racehorse-training O’Briens have live runners in this year’s race, as Green Sense, who is stabled with Donnacha’s older brother, Joseph, tops the Timeform ratings, with Aidan O’Brien’s Signora not far behind. Green Sense and Signora finished second and third respectively in the Group Three Blackbear Fillies’ Sprint Stakes at Naas in May, when Joseph’s runner was having a second outing and his dad’s filly was making her racecourse debut. The market definitely expects Signora to make significant progress today and she is currently trading at around 9-4, with Hugo Palmer’s Fitzella next in at 5-1. She beat the re-opposing Tahalel by three-and-a-half lengths at Haydock last month, and is a big chance for Oisin Murphy to move within one win of Ryan Moore in the race for the jockeys’ title this week. Ipanema Queen and Gold Digger also have a single win against their name, and Richard Spencer’s runner, a 260k gns (£273k) purchase at the Newmarket breeze-up sale in April, showed a useful turn of foot to win his first start at Yarmouth and could well outrun his odds of around 9-1.
SELECTION: GOLD DIGGER.
Thursday was a big day – another big day – for Ryan Moore. The world’s best jockey? Perhaps so, and he’s moving into historical achievements.
Per the Racing Post
A 2,594th British Flat success was enough to bring up one of the most impressive milestones of Moore’s incredible career, joining the likes of Sir Gordon Richards, Pat Eddery, Lester Piggott, Willie Carson and Frankie Dettori as one of the greatest-ever jockeys in the history of British Flat racing.
Moore remains a staggering 2,275 adrift of Richards in top spot, but has Fred Archer next in his crosshairs. Ninth on the list will be achieved with another 154 winners on British soil.
Trends and insights for day four
Via Oddschecker
Albany Stakes
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Five of the past seven winners have come from the top three in the betting
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All 12 winners have won that season before winning here
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Last four winners have been from stall 8 or lower
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31% of all bets this morning has backed Signora on Oddschecker
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Green Sense 9/1 into 6/1
Commonwealth Cup
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Four of the past five winners have come from the top three in the betting
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Eight of 10 winners have been rated 113+
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6/8 winners have come from stalls 5 or lower.
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35% of total stakes on Shadow of Light
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Time For Sandals 40/1 into 25/1
Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
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11 of 12 winners have come from stall 9 or higher.
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Favourite hasn’t finished outside the top for in 9/12 meetings.
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10/12 winners have been age 4/5.
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French Duke 13/2 into 5/1. Most backed with 18% of all wagers today
Coronation Stakes
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10/12 winners have come from the top three in the betting.
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11/12 winners with SP of 6/1 and lower.
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Four of the last five winners from stalls 5 and lower.
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SP favourite has finished inside the top three in 7/8 renewals.
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11/12 winners rated 108 and higher
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Zarigana and Falakeyah taken up 57% of all bets placed this morning.
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Zarigana 9/4 into 6/4
Sandringham Handicap
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All four previous winners have carried 9st 2lbs or more.
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7/10 winners have come from the top three in the betting.
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Last four winners have come from stalls 16 and higher
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10/12 winners have been rated 88+.
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Miss Nightfall 18% of all bets this morning. 6/1 into 3/1.
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Biggest single win bet backing Miss Nightfall @ 4/1.
King Edward VII Stakes
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Seven of last eight winners come from the top three in the betting.
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Favourite has won four of the past six.
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73% of the total money today backing Amiloc and Zahrann.
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Biggest single win bet of the day so far backing Amiloc.
Palace of Holyrood Stakes
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All five winners have come from stall 11 and higher.
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4/5 winners had 3 or 4 runs that season.
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Brighton Boy 20/1 into 8/1
Biggest five single win bets this morning
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1. Amiloc
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2. Zahrann
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3. Miss Nightfall
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4. Shadow Of Light
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5. Signora
Friday’s race schedule
Today at Royal Ascot
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2.30pm Albany Stakes (Group 3) six furlongs
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3.05pm Commonwealth Cup (Group 1) six furlongs
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3.40pm Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes (Handicap) one mile, four furlongs
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4.20pm Coronation Stakes (Group 1) one mile
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5.00pm Sandringham Stakes (Handicap) one mile
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5.35pm King Edward VII Stakes (Group 2) one mile four furlongs
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6.10pm Palace Of Holyroodhouse (Handicap) five furlongs
Ascot weather report
Forecast: A gentle breeze will provide light relief as it’s set to be another scorching, dry day.
High: 29 degrees celsius
Low: 16 degrees celsius
Ascot going report
Official Going
The latest ground report conducted at Ascot on Friday, 20th June has the official going as Good to Firm.
GoingStick
Stands Side: 8.7
Centre: 8.4
Farside: 8.5
Round: 7.1
Tom Jenkins is our snapper on course.
The Gold Cup is the big race of the week, and the spoils went to the Gosden team.
Preamble
Greg Wood
Welcome to Ascot on the fourth morning of Royal Ascot 2025, where the sun is shining as it has been all week, crowds are up – again – year-on-year, and there are two Group One races for the near-capacity crowd to enjoy alongside three daunting handicaps where a winner could well pay for your ticket, a bottle of bubbly and a carriage ride home.
The Coronation Stakes, for three-year-old fillies over a mile, is the feature event on the card at 4.20, and while only one of the three major 1,000 Guineas winners is in the field – Zarigana, who won in France – two unbeaten up-and-comers were added to the race at the weekend and will give her plenty to think about.
The top-rated two-year-old of 2024, Shadow Of Light, is up against 20 opponents in the day’s first Group One, the Commonwealth Cup at 3.05, while in the King Edward VII Stakes later on the card “Ascot Derby”, Ralph Beckett’s Amiloc will attempt to extend his unbeaten record to five races against another very promising colt, Johnny Murtagh’s Zahrann.
Both the straight and round courses were watered overnight – 6mm on the straight course and 5mm on the round – and the going remains good-to-firm all over, but it will be drying all the time with temperatures heading into the upper 20s again today and Leovanni, in the Commonwealth Cup, is one of four scratches so far on today’s card due to the ground.
The action is underway at the immutable time of 2.30 with the Albany Stakes, a juvenile contest that has been won by several future Group One winners in the recent past, and as ever, you can follow all the news and action as it happens, from the publication of the carriage list right through to the last horse across the line in the concluding sprint handicap, here on the Guardian’s live blog.