The G1 Gold Cup (3991m) has long been Royal Ascot’s annual highlight and the 2025 edition proved no exception with the record-breaking victory of TRAWLERMAN for John & Thady Gosden and William Buick to continue the Gosden stable’s remarkable Group 1 dominance over the past three days.
John Gosden has long been renowned as a brilliant horseman in his own right and, now in partnership with his son Thady, continues to demonstrate exceptional skill and ambition on international racing’s grandest stages.
After winning the G1 St James’s Palace Stakes (1600m) with FIELD OF GOLD on the opening day (Tuesday, 17 June), the Gosdens struck again on Wednesday (18 June) in the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (2000m) with OMBUDSMAN before TRAWLERMAN swept to a seven-length Gold Cup victory in 4m 15.02s, comfortably surpassing the 4m 16.92s set by RITE OF PASSAGE in 2010.
With 71 wins at Royal Ascot, John’s expertise as a horseman is captured by statistics which show only three trainers in history – Aidan O’Brien (90), Sir Michael Stoute (82) and Sir Henry Cecil (75) – have trained more winners at the Royal meeting.
After three days, John & Thady are tied in the lead with Aidan for the 2025 leading trainers’ prize with five wins each. John previously won this award in 2012 and 2020 and also in 2021 with Thady – which is a remarkable achievement given Aidan’s record as a 13-time winner of the award.
With 14 races left to be contested at Royal Ascot, the battle for training honours will be fascinating while Ryan Moore’s treble on Thursday leaves him with five wins for the week and ahead in the jockey standings as he chases a 12th leading jockey award.
Apart from its world-class racing, tradition and glamour, Royal Ascot also presents a valuable opportunity to connect with passionate international racing administrators, owners, trainers and jockeys to discuss issues of mutual interest.
The Royal meeting draws members of the horseracing community from all corners of the globe and it was wonderful to catch up with James McDonald after his win on CRIMSON ADVOCATE in the G2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes for the Gosdens.
James has enjoyed tremendous success around the world, especially with ROMANTIC WARRIOR, and his ability to adapt to different tracks, conditions and tactics in a variety of jurisdictions is extremely impressive.
On Friday night (20 June), the G1 Commonwealth Cup is carded as S4-2 and is run over 1200m at 10.05pm.
SHADOW OF LIGHT (William Buick) won the G1 Middle Park Stakes and Dewhurst Stakes as a two-year-old and resumed in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket when extending to 1600m. He was held up before taking the lead 400m out but was caught by RULING COURT and FIELD OF GOLD in the last 100m, finishing third. SHADOW OF LIGHT is a top-class colt and is a win and place chance, coming back in distance here.
JONQUIL (Christophe Soumillon) won the Greenham Stakes and was a close second to HENRI MATISSE in the French 2000 Guineas at Longchamp on 11 May. JONQUIL also comes back and is a place chance.
BABOUCHE (Colin Keane) is trained in Ireland by Ger Lyons and was impressive beating WHISTLEJACKET at Group 3 level at Naas on 18 May. This is a step up in grade, but Colin is in brilliant form and BABOUCHE is a place chance.
Aidan O’Brien goes in double-handed with WHISTLEJACKET (Ryan Moore) and IDES OF MARCH (Wayne Lordan) and both have the ability to be placed.
The G1 Coronation Stakes is carded as S4-4 and run over 1594m at 11.20pm.
French-trained fillies have a good record in this race with the most recent to win being WATCH ME in 2019 for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard, who is represented this year by ZARIGANA (Mickael Barzalona), last start winner of the French 1000 Guineas, where she won the race on objection from SHES PERFECT. ZARIGANA has an excellent winning strike rate and is a win and place chance.
FALAKEYAH (Jim Crowley) is unbeaten, having won her only two starts convincingly. She resumed in the Pretty Polly Stakes (2000m) at Newmarket on 4 May and drops in distance for this race. FALAKEYAH has good ability and is a place chance along with KON TIKI (William Buick) who is also undefeated for trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam.
Aidan O’Brien is also double-handed in this race with JANUARY (Ryan Moore) and EXACTLY (Wayne Lordan), who both should run well. Emerging young trainer Ollie Sangster also has two runners and his main chance is FLIGHT (Oisin Murphy), who is a place chance.
On Saturday night (21 June), the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes is carded as S5-3 and will be run over 1200m at 10.40pm.
Japanese sprinter SATONO REVE (Joao Moreira) ran third to KA YING RISING in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) in December before winning at G1 level in Japan in March. He returned to Sha Tin and chased home KA YING RISING again in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), running second just ahead of HELIOS EXPRESS on 27 April. SATONO REVE is my win and place selection.
INISHERIN (William Buick) won the G1 Commonwealth Cup last year and made a winning return in the Duke Of York Stakes at York on 14 May over 1200m. INISHERIN is a straight course specialist and is a place chance.
LAZZAT was unplaced in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) behind VOYAGE BUBBLE in December. Trainer Jerome Reynier switched LAZZAT back to sprinting at his last run and he won over Chantilly’s 1200m straight course on 2 May. LAZZAT is also a place chance.
TOPGEAR (Stephane Pasquier) is another French trained sprinter with claims after his win in the G3 Prix du Palais-Royal (1400m) at ParisLongchamp on 25 May when he won comfortably from SAJIR. TOPGEAR has an excellent winning record and is a place chance for trainer Christopher Head while SAJIR (Oisin Murphy) also has claims for Andre Fabre.
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