Ladies due to take centre stage in Coronation but boys could steal the show

On the fourth day of Royal Ascot, the ladies really should take centre stage. With Billesdon Brook, Alpha Centauri and Teppal due to cross swords in the Coronation Stakes, we have the makings of an epic Group 1 spectacle between the British, Irish and French 1,000 Guineas heroines.

Three Classic winners clashing in a definitive showdown in the middle of June is a rare treat. With the likes of Clemmie lurking in the long grass, it really ought to be all about the girls, but there is a nagging suspicion that the Commonwealth Cup could throw up something explosive.

As the shortest Group 1 for the Classic crop, the six-furlong cavalry charge has the capacity to take your breath away.

And with coiled springs like Sioux Nation and Equilateral poised to unleash their fire and fury, in 70-odd seconds we might have a brand new sprinting sensation.

We might not be in the realm of Phil Neville's hapless reprise of The Fast Show’s Amazing Invisible Woman sketch alongside Alex Scott on Tuesday's BBC World Cup show, but the boys could claim the day as their own.

Then again, in Actress, Heartache, Main Desire and Now You’re Talking, nearly 20 per cent of the Commonwealth field is made up of fillies. Lest we forget, Shang Shang Shang was the only filly among a field of ten in the Norfolk, so that might yet be more than enough to show up the boys.

Dettori turns to Veracious to plug Coronation gap

At just three years old, the Commonwealth Cup is the newest British Group 1, along with the sprint over course and distance on Champions Day.

It is hardly surprising, then, that Frankie Dettori, who partners John Gosden’s live contender Emblazoned this time, has yet to make its roll of honour. However, a more notable omission on his stellar CV is the day’s other Group 1.

Dettori had his first of 16 rides in the Coronation Stakes in 1989, a year after it became a Group 1. This time, in his quest to add it to his big-race legacy, the irrepressible 47-year-old partners Sir Michael Stoute’s exciting Frankel filly Veracious.

As an impressive maiden winner at Newmarket in the autumn, Veracious would trump Without Parole’s leap from Listed to Group 1 winner were she to prevail. Intriguingly, Equilateral will be striving to make a similarly rapid progression up the ranks in the Commonwealth, his eight-length Doncaster rout last month coming in a mere novice event.

Sioux Nation being led in following last year's Norfolk Stakes successCredit: Mark Cranham

By contrast, Equilateral’s market rival Sioux Nation is already a Group 1 victor, having followed last year’s Norfolk triumph with success in the Phoenix Stakes.

Caravaggio, Aidan O’Brien’s breakthrough Commonwealth winner in 2017, did the Coventry-Phoenix double, before plundering the Lacken Stakes at Naas en route to glory at the royal meeting in 2017. Perhaps ominously for the opposition, Sioux Nation also landed the Lacken Stakes last month.

Albany boasts increasing international flavour

Proceedings kick off on day four with the Albany Stakes, which Matthieu Palussiere – who spent the early stages of his training career in Ireland – annexed with Different League from his Maisons-Laffitte base last year.

The previous year Aidan O’Brien saddled the winner of the Group 3 for the first time when Brave Anna prevailed, with Richard Hannon keeping it local courtesy of Illuminate in 2015. It is a race that is developing a bit of international flavour, a point reinforced again on Friday.

Apart from the 15 Irish declarations, there are just seven other international runners throughout the card, and five of those will tackle the Albany. This time, Palussiere relies on No More Regrets, while Byron Bay and Reponse Exacte also represent Les Bleus.

Merry Go Round is charged with lifting German spirits after the footballers’ shock World Cup defeat to Mexico, while Wesley Ward, fresh from Shang Shang Shang’s Norfolk win, will be represented by Stillwater Cove.

Osborne looking to get back in the groove with a bang

Robbie Osborne hasn't figured on the big-race radar for a decade but he returns to the fray when he saddles Carbon Dating in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes.

During his first stint as a trainer, Osborne saddled the likes of Latino Magic and King Jock to a raft of lucrative victories. King Jock, in particular, was a wonderful money-spinner for him, winning Group races in Italy, the United Arab Emirates and at his local Curragh venue.

In the globetrotter's two Abu Dhabi triumphs, he was partnered by Pat Shanahan, from whom Osborne took over at Jimmy Long's Thistle Bloodstock training base in Kilkenny in April.

By then, Osborne had spent nearly ten years out of the training game, but he ended his hiatus when the opportunity came up to work for Long, with whom he had enjoyed so much success in the past.

At the time, Carbon Dating was the only horse he singled out for mention. The six-year-old makes a first start for him now under regular rider Tadhg O'Shea, having last been seen finishing fifth in an Abu Dhabi Group 3 in March.

Carbon Dating is in off a 2lb lower rating than that off which he won a Musselburgh handicap in April 2017 for his Dubai-based, Scottish-born owner, so the prospect of a fairytale comeback victory for Osborne isn't entirely fanciful.

High numbers again held sway in the big-field handicap up the straight course that was the Britannia on Thursday to add to the evidence of the first two days.

But again a smaller field that was the Norfolk Stakes produced a single-figure fest to add to the Jersey Stakes success of Expert Eye from stall eight.

Effect of the draw

Over the first two days in big-field races on the straight course higher-drawn runners had the best of it with Calyx (22 of 24), Signora Cabello (16 of 22) and Settle For Bay (22 of 30) all winning.

Thursday's opening Norfolk Stakes was an overwhelming success for the lowest drawn against the inside rail with American filly Shang Shang Shang blazing from stall four and the next five home drawn 2-7-1-3-5 in a field of ten.

The Britannia was unusual in that there was no even split with just three low numbers racing on the far rail as Ostilio (drawn 15 of the 30 runners) came to the stands rail where highest numbers were drawn and filled all but two of the first ten home.

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