Coronation Stakes (Group 1)

IRISH 2000 Guineas winner Precise (Aidan O’Brien/Ryan Moore) confirmed her superiority from that contest over stablemate True Love (Wayne Lordan) with Moore ensuring his mount avoided trouble by making a move on the run into the straight as True Love and eventual runner-up Touleen (Owen Burrows/Saffie Osborne) were having a bit of a set-to in behind.

The 8/13 favourite was settled behind the modest pace set by Rose Ghaiyyath, and Moore kept wide of the leaders to ensure a smooth passage into the straight, then swept past the flagging leaders with two furlongs left to run, and although True Love set off in pursuit, she was beaten a furlong out and concede second place to Touleen in the last strides. The margins were a length and a half and a neck.

As well as this and her Guineas win at the Curragh, Precise has also scored at the highest level in the Moyglare Stud Stakes and Fillies’ Mile, although it’s possible she will now step up in trip, with her current entries including the Eclipse at 10 furlongs and the Irish Oaks at a mile and a half.

O’Brien said: “It will be interesting to hear what Ryan said. She was a little bit slow away, but I thought he did great on her and kept her out of trouble. I am delighted with her. When she gets there, she just looks a little bit lazy. Precise can do a lot of things. She can stay at a mile or she can step up in trip.

“I am grateful and thankful to everybody for getting her here. She gets a little bit lazy, but when you do ask her, she really opens up – that is just her. True Love ran a storming race and got trapped wide, which probably did not help her, but she ran a great race.”

Moore added: “Precise began a bit awkwardly. I was a bit further back than I wanted to be, but I rode her to get there in front.

“She got into a beautiful rhythm and I was not really concerned about what position I was in, just keeping her going forward. She covered ground on the turn, but I knew she was going to stay well. She is the best filly, there was no need to complicate it, and she has done what she had to do.

“I would say ten furlongs is within her compass, but she is good at a mile. There are plenty of good fillies in the yard, so I suppose we will get home, see what the others are doing and make a plan. It was not her fault she got beat first time up. She is a very good filly and beautifully trained.”

Commonwealth Cup (Group 1)

VENETIAN Sun (Karl Burke/Clifford Lee) was a warm order at 11/8 for the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup and Tony Bloom’s brilliant filly gave her trainer another Commonwealth Cup win a decade after Quiet Reflection had also upstaged the boys here.

A non-stayer in the 1000 Guineas, Venetian Sun confirmed she had lost no dash when winning the Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock on her second start of the campaign and she needed limited encouragement from Lee to show herself the best sprinter of her generation as she quickened smartly to lead a furlong out, from when she was in no danger, for all the margin over Spicy Marg (Michael Bell/Tom Marquand) was just a head.

Division (William Haggas/James Doyle) was a little unlucky in third, given he missed the break and covered more ground than the pair who beat him, but nothing should be taken from the brilliant winner, who scored snugly.

Racing in Bloom’s familiar royal blue silks, Venetian Sun – like all the Brighton & Hove Albion owner’s flat horses – is owned in partnership with Bloom’s long-time colleague Ian McAleavey.

The daughter of Starman will stay at six furlongs, with the July Cup her next assignment. Her win was a ninth at Royal Ascot for Burke and a third for Clifford Lee, who spent almost six months on the sidelines after breaking a C1 vertebra in a non-racing accident last autumn.

Burke said: “That is more relief than enjoyment. She is what she is – she is such a laid-back filly – and it was probably unusual the way she did it at Haydock last time. Everybody was talking about how good it was visually, which it was, but I think the ground had a lot to do with that.

“I have said it before a few times, but when Clifford rode her last year, even when he was winning group races on her, he kept saying, ‘she is feeling the ground’. Haydock was probably the first time she actually raced on soft ground. I think that is probably the reason why she has not been as visually impressive, but she is still a Group 1 winner.

“It is tough coming here. We came down with a big team, and we have had a couple of placed horses, but generally we have had a few disappointments, so to get the banker in was very much a relief. I am delighted for Clifford. He is going the right way all the time and is riding better and better.”

Asked what it means following his comeback from injury, Lee said: “It is fantastic. I had five and a half months off as I broke my C1, but I feel I have come back stronger and better. It helps riding good horses. It was very hard as it took me a long time to actually get back fit. It is great to be back. On big days like this, I am glad for the team back at home that do all the hard work.’”

Albany Stakes (Group 3)

LIBERTANGO (George Boughey/Billy Loughnane) proved a low draw need not be the kiss of death when coming from stall 3 to beat hot favourite Sun Goddess (Aidan O’Brien/Ryan Moore) by a length in the Group 3 Albany Stakes.

The 6/1 shot didn’t get the clearest of runs, but rattled home when in the clear to win with a bit to spare, while Light Of Dawn (Karl Burke/James Doyle) was another length behind the runner-up in a 25-runner contest.

With the entire field crossing over to the stands side of the track, the draw proved less significant than had been the case on previous days, and Libertango was able to provide her trainer with a treble on the week from his 10th runner.

Boughey and Loughnane had teamed up on Tuesday for a memorable success in the St James’s Palace Stakes and the Craven Breeze Up purchase looks to have bright future for owner Vefa Ibrahim Araci, who shelled out 400,000gns for the daughter of No Nay Never.

Boughey said: “Libertango has been very good from the outset. She was prepared by Brendan Holland, who was very sweet on her before the sale. We actually wanted her as a yearling but did not manage to buy her, so it was nice to see her back in the Breeze-Ups.

“She has just got the most amazing brain. Trying to buy Royal Ascot two-year-olds, No Nay Never is the stallion who is hitting it out of the park, so to be able to get her was brilliant. He was pretty bold, Mr Araci – he wanted to get the horse and he had to pay for it.

“Her work has been better than any two-year-old we have sent to Ascot. We have been second and third in the race the last couple of years, so we are delighted to get it done.”

In regard to the future, Boughey continued: “She could go to Newmarket, stepping up in grade, for the Duchess of Cambridge. She is a filly with loads of pace and, although she probably will get further, I do not think she needs to yet.

“She has got a wicked turn of foot. I think she got stopped three or four times, but Billy knew he had a load of horse under him. She has shown that turn of foot at home, and it did not surprise me.”

Duke of Edinburgh Stakes (Heritage Handicap)

GIVING a ride of rare skill from the inside stall, 6/1 chance Opportunity (William Haggas/James McDonald) ran out a smart winner of the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes. Careful to ensure he was not left in a pocket from his tricky draw, McDonald tracked royal runner Warrant Holder (John & Thady Gosden/William Buick) into the straight before slipping pact to score by a length and three-quarters, with a further three lengths back to Regal Ulixes (Andrew Balding/P J McDonald).

A flop in the Edward VII last year, Opportunity was off the track for 11 months but was an unlucky loser of a competitive course-and-distance contest on his return before making amends at Carlisle last month. It was a second winner of the week for McDonald, who rode Map Of Stars to victory in the Listed Wolferton Stakes on Tuesday.

Richard Brown of Wathnan Racing said: “I wish something else was second! But we are obviously all sportsmen. That was a very thrilling race to watch. We were very worried about the draw – it is difficult from one. James had to be patient there. A gap opened, it stayed open up the inside, and Opportunity finished very strongly.

“We thought he was a stakes-calibre horse and, hopefully, he has shown today that he is. We do not hide how important this meeting is for us and the powers that be, so it is great to get the third one on the board. We are absolutely delighted.”

Day four comment:

Friday is the real Ladies Day this week

THURSDAY at Ascot is officially Ladies Day, but I think we can admit that it feels a day later this year, with a brilliant trio of fillies hitting the headlines.

It’s hardly a surprise that the fairer sex should win the Albany or the Coronation Stakes – in fact there would be a serious stewards enquiry if that wasn’t the case, but just as he did a decade ago, Karl Burke demonstrated his way with the ladies by producing a filly to beat the boys in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup, and it would be a brave man who bests against Venetian Sun when she lines up against her elders for the first time in the July Cup at Newmarket in a few weeks.

Credit should also go to outsider Spicy Marg who made it a 1-2 for the fillies in the big three-year-old sprint, while Precise set Aidan O’Brien off in search of his second century of Royal Ascot winners as she confirmed Irish 1000 Guineas form with True Love in the Coronation Stakes.

Ryan Moore was denied on the stable’s Sun Goddess in the Albany but he has his sights firmly fixed on his own 100 wins at the Royal Meeting as Precise gave him victory number 97.

Sitting only two winners off the 100 mark, I’m sure Moore will give it everything he has, and I’m equally sure that when he does hit the milestone and gets the congratulations he deserves, he will greet the adulation with a shrug of his slight shoulders.

They’re just numbers, after all, aren’t they?