The Coventry Stakes is a Group 2 contest run over 6f. It takes place at 15:05 on Tuesday 17th June, which is the first day of Royal Ascot 2025. View the runners here, and also make sure to check out the odds and tips on offer for this race.

NO.DRAW
FORM

HORSE

ODDS

JOCKEY& TRAINER

AGE

WGT

RPR

10⁽³⁾

Kolkata Knight

J: Pierre-Louis Jamin

T: Tom Dascombe

9-3

101

Hamilton is no obvious starting point for a Coventry winner but he justified plenty of market confidence there (6f, good to firm; 13-8) with a striking 5l defeat of a subsequent Carlisle winner; there's no knocking a winning start with that level of authority and his trainer has had Royal Ascot winners in the past (including a Queen Mary); could outrun his odds.

13⁽⁹⁾

132

Power Blue

J: David Egan

T: Adrian Murray

9-3

113

All three runs at the Curragh, on soft and good; impressed on debut, then ran third in a 5f Listed race and latterly saw out the 6f well to finish within a length of Albert Einstein in the Marble Hill (Andab third); that Group 3 is traditionally a strong Irish pointer and the winner would probably have been favourite for this had he not been sidelined through injury; a case can be made for this colt being overpriced.

14⁽⁴⁾

133

Raakeb

J: Sean Levey

T: Richard Hannon

9-3

105

Beat a subsequent selling-race winner on debut at Ripon (5f, good); improved form in defeat, rallying for third in valuable conditions races at Beverley (5f, good) and Epsom (6f, good to soft); he won't fail through a lack of effort but perhaps lacks the star potential of many in here.

17⁽¹⁶⁾

122

Super Soldier

J: Clifford Lee

T: K R Burke

9-3

101

All runs at 5f; won at Leicester, then second under a penalty here (again on good to firm) before another creditable show in a French Listed race (good to soft); doesn't have the profile of a typical Coventry winner and place money would be a result; sold for £390,000 on Monday.

9⁽¹⁴⁾

Gstaad

J: Ryan Moore

T: A P O'Brien

9-3

111

Sired by Royal Ascot winner Starspangledbanner and is a half-brother to top-class 2yo sprinter Vandeek; cost 450,000gns as a foal; produced all his best work late on at Navan (6f, good) when flooring a once-raced odds-on stablemate who is bound for Wednesday's Queen Mary; this colt could have come on in leaps and bounds for that first run, in keeping with so many from this yard; there's been money for him in the last week and many a once-raced colt has won this; Ryan Moore rides.

11⁽¹⁵⁾

Military Code

J: William Buick

T: Charlie Appleby

9-3

110

An unbeaten son of Wootton Bassett with course experience, having given weight and a beating to subsequent winners over 5f here (good to firm) last time; his powerful yard's chosen one for this, but the nagging concern is that his final furlong of that last race wasn't his best and he's up to 6f this time.

3⁽¹¹⁾

Ballistic Missile

J: Shane Foley

T: Richard Hannon

9-3

260,000euros yearling; debut winners from this yard usually turn out smart and he won at York (5f, good to firm) where he was niggled at from some way out but came home with purpose; those he beat might be destined for nurseries but he's a promising colt who should stay 6f and some more.

2⁽²⁰⁾

Andab

J: Dylan Browne McMonagle

T: Joseph Patrick O'Brien

9-3

110

Has travelled strongly in both his races at the Curragh (6f, good), winning with a swagger on debut and then holding his own in the Marble Hill when hot on the heels of Power Blue as both conceded late on to the now sidelined Albert Einstein (who had been favourite for this); trainer has since reported that he endured a hold-up prior to that Group 3, so improvement seems likely; shortlisted without hesitation.

18⁽¹³⁾

451

Tadej

J: Luke Morris

T: Archie Watson

9-3

103

Likeable efforts here and at York before getting off the mark at the latter venue 17 days ago (6f, good) when pretty much all out to repel Do Or Do Not; coming along nicely but he's in a lot deeper here and may lack the required class, no matter what difference the new cheekpieces make.

NR⁽¹⁾

Tricky Tel

T: Hugo Palmer

9-3

111

Zipping around the tight bends of Chester is a world away from the straight track at Ascot, but it's all been straightforward for him there on the Roodee and he had little difficulty in defying a penalty last time, despite a wide enough draw; he's not the biggest, but the booking of Colin Keane is a statement of intent; The Wow Signal won out of stall 1 in 2014.

6⁽¹⁷⁾

Coppull

J: David Probert

T: Clive Cox

9-3

The form of his narrow Leicester win (5f, good; 14-1) doesn't look anywhere near good enough, but he did defy market weakness and his trainer won this in 2020 with a 150-1 chance who was only fifth on his debut; the potential is there to raise his game.

7⁽⁵⁾

Do Or Do Not

J: Tom Marquand

T: Ed Walker

9-3

102

Winners have emerged from the Newbury maiden he contested on debut and he was sharper all round when pushing Tadej to a neck at York (6f, good; pair clear); he's not without hope of reversing places with the winner but there are many others to worry about.

4⁽⁷⁾

Bone Marra

J: Christophe Soumillon

T: Ollie Sangster

9-3

Beat two fellow outsiders when the 25-1 winner of a 5f AW maiden at Wolverhampton and the third was comfortably held last week at Lingfield; unlikely to be good enough, even if he does cope with the 6f and different surface.

8⁽²¹⁾

Gavoo

J: Luke McAteer

T: David Marnane

9-3

107

Looked raw when no match for Andab on Curragh debut (6f, good) and then overcame a wide draw over slightly further at Listowel (good to yielding), mowing down the favourite who had shaped well in a good race the time before; trainer is seeking a third Royal Ascot victory; each-way claims.

5⁽²⁾

Bourbon Blues

J: Billy Loughnane

T: Brian Meehan

9-3

103

Typical of a 2yo from this yard to leave its debut form behind when he streaked clear on good ground at Brighton (6f); his RPR wasn't too shoddy and his yard delivered a surprise winner of this 12 months ago with a twice-raced maiden; unwise to put a line through him.

12⁽¹⁹⁾

Postmodern

J: James Doyle

T: Hamad Al Jehani

9-3

112

Cost 270,000gns as a yearling; bred to go further but he didn't look short of speed when waving goodbye to the opposition at Yarmouth (6f, good to firm) and the runner-up, who cost some 500,000gns as a yearling, didn't appear to be unfancied; the time wasn't mind-blowing but he looks hugely exciting, especially as connections expected him to come on plenty for that initial experience; James Doyle prefers him to Underwriter who runs in the same colours.

20⁽¹⁸⁾

Underwriter

J: James McDonald

T: Archie Watson

9-3

101

£200,000 breeze-up buy; went off 11-10 at Ayr (6f, good to firm) so did what was expected of him in making a successful debut and he didn't need much persuasion to come home 2l to the good; the opposition wasn't overly challenging but the stable won this with a once-raced colt three years ago and also saddled last year's runner-up in these colours, who had also made a winning debut at Ayr; has to be of interest.

16⁽¹²⁾

Shaatir

J: Hollie Doyle

T: Archie Watson

9-3

101

Beaten at Chepstow on debut but looked far more with it at Lingfield (6f, good) when dominating from the front down the 'golden highway' up the stands' rail; would probably have beaten inferior opposition no matter how he was ridden, but that didn't smack of Royal Ascot-winning material; improvement is possible but it's certainly necessary.

15⁽¹⁰⁾

Rock On Thunder

J: Jim Crowley

T: Kevin Ryan

9-3

104

380,000gns yearling; one of the joint favourites (4-1) when ridden by Jim Crowley to win a 6f maiden on good ground at Leicester where he knew his job and won ridden out (third and fifth won last weekend); while there's no denying that others have achieved more, he's yet another runner open to significant improvement after one run; trainer is no stranger to success at this meeting with 2yos.

1⁽⁸⁾

American Gulf

J: Oisin Murphy

T: Paul & Oliver Cole

9-3

107

Oisin Murphy is 4-13 when combining with the Coles and that includes this colt's impressive debut at Windsor (6f, good to firm), where he had the pace to be handy before skipping clear when it mattered; two weeks is a quick turnaround but he has lots of upside and is dangerous to dismiss; the stable knows what's required, having captured this race three times during the 1990s.

21⁽⁶⁾

Warsaw

J: Wayne Lordan

T: A P O'Brien

9-3

109

Wootton Bassett colt and the first foal of an unraced sister to Group 1 winners Forever Together (Oaks) and Together Forever (Fillies' Mile and dam of City Of Troy); bred to get further than 6f but it was over 5f that he powered clear for a successful debut at Navan (stiff track; good; 18-1) and that was all the more impressive given that he was a market drifter; one of two runners from a stable that's won this ten times; commands the utmost respect despite Ryan Moore's apparent preference for Gstaad.

RACING POST TIP

Andab

Winners have emerged from all over the shop draw-wise in the last decade, yet many of this year's market principals are drawn middle to high. Aidan O'Brien is the first port of call when he's captured ten of these, and it's hard to turn a blind eye to Ryan Moore riding Gstaad (second choice) instead of Warsaw. However, Albert Einstein was seemingly the yard's principal hope until injury intervened and that heightens interest in the Marble Hill form in which he beat Power Blue and ANDAB. The latter moved menacingly deep into that Group 3 and, as he'd suffered a small setback prior to the race, further improvement can be anticipated. Wathnan's impressive debut winners Postmodern and Underwriter appear to carry plenty of confidence, while Oisin Murphy keeps the faith in American Gulf, who is not without hope of providing his yard with a belated fourth Coventry after capturing three during their glory days in the 1990s.

Royal Ascot Free Bets

Past 10 Winners

Year	Horse [Draw]	Age	Weight	SP	Trainer	Jockey
2024	Rashabar [10]	4	0-3	80/1F	Brian Meehan	Billy Loughnane
2023	River Tiber [6]	2	9-3	11/8F	A P O’Brien	Ryan Moore
2022	Bradsell [2]	2	9-3	8/1	Archie Watson	Hollie Doyle
2021	Berkshire Shadow [17]	2	9-1	11/1	Andrew Balding	Oisin Murphy
2020	Nando Parrado [6]	2	9-1	150/1	Clive Cox	Adam Kirby
2019	Arizona [3]	2	9-1	15/8F	A P O’Brien	Ryan Moore
2018	Calyx [22]	2	9-1	2/1F	John Gosden	Frankie Dettori
2017	Rajasinghe [9]	2	9-1	11/1	Richard Spencer	Stevie Donohoe
2016	Caravaggio [13]	2	9-1	13/8F	A P O’Brien	Ryan Moore
2015	Buratino [10]	2	9-1	6/1	Mark Johnston	William Buick
2014	The Wow Signal [1]	2	9-1	5/1J	John Quinn	Frankie Dettori

Key race stats 2025

Key Trends

Won last time out, 8/10
No more than three starts, 9/10
Won a previous start by at least two lengths, 7/10
Rated within 7lb of RPR top rated, 6/10
Adjusted RPR of at least 110, 6/10
Distance winner, 5/10

Other Factors

Six winners were undefeated. Buratino, who won in 2015, had been beaten twice over 5f but was undefeated over 6f.

Don’t dismiss the outsiders. Two of the last five winners have returned at 80-1 and 150-1 and there has only been one successful favourite in that period.

What happened in the Coventry Stakes last year?

Gstaad boosted his already lofty reputation by running out a convincing winner of the Coventry Stakes, the first juvenile race at the meeting. Ryan Moore’s mount made smooth headway and quickened smartly to score by three lengths, with 80-1 Do Or Do Not and 66-1 Coppull finishing second and third. Gstaad was a second winning Coventry favourite in three years for Aidan O’Brien, who saddled market leader River Tiber to success in 2023.

Coventry Stakes

15:05 Royal Ascot

RACING POST TIP

Royal Ascot Free Bets

Past 10 Winners

Key race stats 2025

What happened in the Coventry Stakes last year?

All Races