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Royal Ascot analysis: Kieran Clark on Commonwealth Cup and Coronation Stakes

By Kieran Clark

Horse Racing

Fri June 20, 2025 · 1w ago

Timeform's Kieran Clark reflects on the success of Time For Sandals in the Commonwealth Cup and Cercene in the Coronation Stakes.

Filly rules the Commonwealth

The second largest field assembled for the Commonwealth Cup since its inception a decade earlier, rattling fast ground resulting in the second quickest time in its short history – Advertise the only winner to date to dip below 72 seconds.

It had a very open feel beforehand, short-priced favourite Shadow Of Light the only one to have achieved a level good enough to win an average running and he was at least a stone below his 2000 Guineas third, more than two lengths adrift of those in the frame who returned 20/1 or bigger, the winner Time For Sandals obviously improving plenty but her provisional rating of 113 the lowest successful performance in the Commonwealth Cup. For context, Quiet Reflection - the only other filly to have won this – returned a figure of 116 in 2016.

So where next for Time For Sandals?

She’d need to be supplemented for the July Cup, the Timeform standard time for that race a near three seconds quicker than Ascot, which shouldn’t be an issue for one with such a high cruising speed, it worth remembering that she went close in a Lowther as a two-year-old after all, but even in receipt of both her weight-for-age and sex allowances (would get a total of 9lb from the older males), she'll probably need to eke out further progress to have a major say there.

Time For Sandals defies odds of 25/1 in the Commonwealth Cup

No Coronation for French queen

With neither the1000 Guineas winner nor the impressive Irish one in attendance, Desert Flower having contested the Oaks and Lake Victoria currently on the sidelines, the Coronation Stakes looked a potential crowning moment for Zarigana who'd been awarded the Poulains, she as far as 5lb clear on pre-race ratings and it looked for the majority of the straight that she would duly deliver having been well backed but didn’t seem to apply herself fully after swooping from towards the rear in a strongly-run affair.

The time was just shy of three seconds quicker than the Timeform standard and the French filly came up against a game opponent in Cerene who had finished third at the Curragh and four lengths adrift of the aforementioned Lake Vicotria.

Those in the frame, bar the favourite, are all worthy of some improvement, though a likely Timeform rating in the low-to-mid 110s for the winner, who was the only one from that camp to be up with the pace throughout, means that it was a sub-par renewal in all likelihood.