Key events
Greg Wood
3.05 Commonwealth Cup preview
Twenty-two runners is the joint-biggest field for this race since it was added to the Royal Ascot schedule in 2015, but there is a standout on form and Venetian Sun will set off at a short price to follow up her decisive success in the Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock last time. She was down the field in the 1,000 Guineas prior to that win, when she clearly failed to get home, but it was a risk worth taking as she was already a Group One winner as a juvenile in the Prix Morny (narrowly ahead of Gstaad, this year’s Irish 2,000 Guineas winner). If she runs close to her Haydock form out of stall 13, she should win, but her price may persuade many punters to look for an each-way alternative, with Aidan O’Brien’s Albert Einstein, Charlie Appleby’s Wise Approach – the Middle Park Stakes winner last season – and Division, the runner-up behind Venetian Sun at Haydock, high on the shortlist.
Timeform top-rated: Venetian Sun.
SELECTION: VENETIAN SUN.
Greg Wood
2.30 Albany Stakes preview
Fresh from registering his 100th Royal Ascot winner here in yesterday’s Gold Cup, Aidan O’Brien will hope to set off towards his second century with Sun Goddess, his only runner in this year’s Albany. It would have been an obvious target for Wednesday’s Queen Mary winner, Victorious, but O’Brien was happy to let her drop back down to five furlongs and rely on Sun Goddess alone for this six-furlong contest. Many punters with winnings from Scandinavia’s Gold Cup will need no further invitation to get stuck in.
Sun Goddess was beaten on her first trip to the track, when a starting price of 6-1 suggested that she was expected to need the experience, but bolted up by five lengths at the Curragh a couple of weeks later and has been a firm favourite for this race ever since. The betting suggests that her biggest threat could be Silent Beauty, in the purple colours of Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing operation. She did nothing wrong when winning by four lengths at Yarmouth first time out, but is in a single-figure stall – not ideal given the “golden highway” against the stands’ rail for much of the week. Karl Burke’s Light Of Dawn, who was knocked down to Wathnan Racing for around £550k at the breeze-up sales, is another once-raced winner worth a second look, but Sun Goddess will take all the beating.
Timeform top-rated: Sun Goddess.
SELECTION: SUN GODDESS
Greetings one and all, as we head into a sweltering fourth day at Royal Ascot. Here are today’s races:
2.30 Albany Stakes (Group 3)
3.05 Commonwealth Cup (Group 1)
3.40 Duke of Edinburgh Stakes
4.20 Coronation Stakes (Group 1)
5.00 Sandringham Stakes
5.35 King Edward VII Stakes (Group 2)
6.10 Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes
Preamble
Greg Wood
Day four of Royal Ascot 2026 and it’s going to be a scorcher, with peak temperatures of up to 28C forecast for this afternoon. A day for sunscreen, shades and plenty of hydration breaks between races, and also a chance for the punters to press home the advantage after the feature events on the first three days were won by a heavily-backed favourite.
Scandinavia (11-8), in yesterday’s Gold Cup, followed up the victories of Bow Echo (5-6) and Ombudsman (11-10) on Tuesday and Wednesday, and there are three short-priced favourites in the first four races today that multiply out to an 8-1 treble.
The punters will look to Aidan O’Brien’s Sun Goddess (5-4) to get them off to a storming start in the Albany Stakes at 2.30, and move on to Venetian Sun (6-4) in the Commonwealth Cup at 3.05, before getting stuck into Precise (4-6) in the Coronation Stakes.
The going at Ascot remains good-to-firm after another 5mm of water was applied overnight, and an interesting point from the GoingStick readings is that there is an increasing disparity between the two sides of the track on the straight course.
The latest reading on the stands’ side – where the high-numbered stalls have been dominant in most of the straight-track races this week – is 8.3, while the far side is 8.9. Given that the stands’ rail has already held sway on the first three days, it is entirely possible that most or all of the runners will come down the near rail this afternoon. The 25-runner Albany will give an early indication.
Picks for the seven races on today’s card are here, and you can follow all the action as it happens here on the blog from early to late.
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