Key events
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.
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
Five of the past seven winners have come from the top three in the betting
All 12 winners have won that season before winning here
Last four winners have been from stall 8 or lower
31% of all bets this morning has backed Signora on Oddschecker
Green Sense 9/1 into 6/1
Commonwealth Cup
Four of the past five winners have come from the top three in the betting
Eight of 10 winners have been rated 113+
6/8 winners have come from stalls 5 or lower.
35% of total stakes on Shadow of Light
Time For Sandals 40/1 into 25/1
Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
11 of 12 winners have come from stall 9 or higher.
Favourite hasn’t finished outside the top for in 9/12 meetings.
10/12 winners have been age 4/5.
French Duke 13/2 into 5/1. Most backed with 18% of all wagers today
Coronation Stakes
10/12 winners have come from the top three in the betting.
11/12 winners with SP of 6/1 and lower.
Four of the last five winners from stalls 5 and lower.
SP favourite has finished inside the top three in 7/8 renewals.
11/12 winners rated 108 and higher
Zarigana and Falakeyah taken up 57% of all bets placed this morning.
Zarigana 9/4 into 6/4
Sandringham Handicap
All four previous winners have carried 9st 2lbs or more.
7/10 winners have come from the top three in the betting.
Last four winners have come from stalls 16 and higher
10/12 winners have been rated 88+.
Miss Nightfall 18% of all bets this morning. 6/1 into 3/1.
Biggest single win bet backing Miss Nightfall @ 4/1.
King Edward VII Stakes
Seven of last eight winners come from the top three in the betting.
Favourite has won four of the past six.
73% of the total money today backing Amiloc and Zahrann.
Biggest single win bet of the day so far backing Amiloc.
Palace of Holyrood Stakes
All five winners have come from stall 11 and higher.
4/5 winners had 3 or 4 runs that season.
Brighton Boy 20/1 into 8/1
Biggest five single win bets this morning
1. Amiloc
2. Zahrann
3. Miss Nightfall
4. Shadow Of Light
5. Signora
Friday’s race schedule
Today at Royal Ascot
2.30pm Albany Stakes (Group 3) six furlongs
3.05pm Commonwealth Cup (Group 1) six furlongs
3.40pm Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes (Handicap) one mile, four furlongs
4.20pm Coronation Stakes (Group 1) one mile
5.00pm Sandringham Stakes (Handicap) one mile
5.35pm King Edward VII Stakes (Group 2) one mile four furlongs
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.
