Royal Ascot Day 4: Venetian Sun, Precise score Group 1 wins

A pair of Group 1 races with potential Breeders’ Cup ramifications highlighted Day 4 of the Royal Ascot meet at Ascot Racecourse in England.

Commonwealth Cup (G1)

The Commonwealth Cup, a six-furlong sprint for three-year-olds, has produced the last two winners of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1): Starlust (2024) and Shisospicy (2025). Both were beaten at Royal Ascot, but rebounded come Breeders’ Cup time.

With this in mind, any of the 22 horses who faced the starter in the 2026 Commonwealth Cup could be worth following from a Breeders’ Cup standpoint. The list begins, of course, with the filly Venetian Sun, who launched a perfectly timed rally under jockey Clifford Lee to defeat male rivals in narrow fashion.

Favored at 6-5 in the World Pool off a three-length romp in the Sandy Lane (G2) at Haydock, Venetian Sun rated in the middle of a 14-horse group on the far side of the course, then outkicked longshot and fellow filly Spicy Marg to prevail by a head in 1:12.08.

“That is more relief than enjoyment,” said Karl Burke, who trains Venetian Sun for owners Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy. “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 One winner.”

Division closed from the back of the far-side pack to finish third, only half a length behind Spicy Marg while quickly gaining ground. Havana Anna, Fitzella, Samangan, and Song of the Clyde were next, followed in eighth place by Coppull, who finished best of eight runners on the stands’ side of the course.

Northern Champion, U.S. raider Outfielder, Kimi Rey, Aspect Island, Midnight Tango, Albert Einstein, Rock On Thunder, Charles Darwin, Zanthos, Havana Hurricane, Brussels, My Calyx Cen, Super Soldier, and Wise Approach completed the order of finish.

Venetian Star is now unbeaten in six starts sprinting six furlongs or less, including a triumph over males in last year’s Prix Morny (G1). Her lone defeats have come in the seven-furlong Moyglare Stud (G1) and the one-mile 1000 Guineas (G1).

“This filly has already got me my first Group 1 in France last year and to pull it off again this year is just fantastic,” said Lee. “It is a pleasure to ride her, and this is what it is all about, these big days.

“We obviously tried to stretch her for the Guineas over the mile, but she has loads of boot. I just told myself I would try and kid her into the race. I think it was probably at the furlong pole when I asked the question, and she was just fantastic. Once I hit the front, she was just doing enough, but when the second horse came to me, she wouldn’t let them get past.”

Coronation (G1)

The Coronation for three-year-old fillies racing one mile over the round course has been known to turn out Breeders’ Cup contenders. The roster of winners includes Banks Hill and Inspiral, who respectively nabbed the 2001 and 2023 editions of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1).

This year’s Coronation went, as expected, to Precise, a Coolmore representative trained by Aidan O’Brien and favored at 1-2 in the World Pool.

Defeats have been rare for Precise, who rattled off wins in the Prestige Fillies’ (G3), Moyglare Stud, and Fillies’ Mile (G1) last year. She opened 2026 with a subpar seventh-place finish behind stablemate True Love in the 1000 Guineas, but bounced back to defeat True Love by 2 1/2 lengths in the Irish 1,000 Guineas (G1).

Precise and True Love met again in the Coronation, and Precise maintained her supremacy. She rated off the pace while racing wide under Ryan Moore, rallied to lead in the homestretch, and turned back all challengers in the drive to score by 1 1/2 lengths in 1:39.58.

“It will be interesting to hear what Ryan said,” said O’Brien. “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 began a bit awkwardly. I was a bit further back than I wanted to be, but I rode her to get there in front,” said Moore. “She got into a beautiful rhythm. 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.”

Longshot Touleen edged True Love by a neck for second, followed by Moon Target in fourth. Reigning Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner Balantina finished fifth in her first run since the Breeders’ Cup, while Sukanya, Timeforshowcasing, Black Caviar Gold, and Rose Ghaiyyath completed the order of finish.

“True Love ran a storming race and got trapped wide, which probably did not help her, but she ran a great race,” said O’Brien.

In 2025, Precise shipped to the U.S. to compete in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, but was scratched due to an infection and a temperature. If she returns stateside for the 2026 Breeders’ Cup, she could be a good fit for the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1), or potentially the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf over 1 3/8 miles.

“Precise can do a lot of things. She can stay at a mile, or she can step up in trip,” said O’Brien. “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.”

Moore agreed with O’Brien’s assessment of Precise’s versatility.

“I would say 10 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.”

Albany (G3)

A huge field of 25 two-year-old fillies dashed six furlongs over the Ascot straight course in the Albany, a race that has turned out recent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winners Balantina (2025) and Meditate (2022).

During the early stages of this year’s Albany, Libertango—the 7-1 second choice in the World Pool—appeared unlikely to challenge. She was near the back of the pack and behind a wall of horses. But when the real running began, Libertango threaded her way between rivals under jockey Billy Loughnane and surged strongly in the closing strides to beat 4-5 favorite Sun Goddess by one length in 1:13.12.

“I am glad she got there; it was not always pretty watching, but I think that happens when you get the vibe that they were going to concertina against the stands’ side rail,” said winning trainer George Boughey. “We were drawn low, and it probably was not that favorable. But, with a strong headwind here today, they went an honest gallop, and she was able to get the better of them.

“It was all about today. 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.”

Light of Dawn, Dark Issue, Hidden Gift, Dee’s Funny Girl, Valentina Bella, Tall Trees, Jolivette, Acclamation Star, Roxelina, Desert Sands, Glamorize, Love Is, Topaz, Bated Benevolence, Blue Sign, Magnesium, Crazy Cubana, Dubai Charm, What a Girl Wants, King’s Prize, Silent Beauty, Ron’s Angel, and Kochella completed the order of finish.

Owned by Vefa Ibrahim Araci, Libertango brought her career record to 2-for-2. She debuted with a victory at Leicester last month.

“This is no surprise. I loved Libertango before her first run,” said Loughnane. “Her work had been very good, and she did everything right that day at Leicester, especially in very hot conditions. She did a monster piece of work six days ago, so I was confident of a very big run.

“I had an uncompromising draw today. I knew she was good, but she was going to have to be very good to win from there. And there’s a headwind, so I took my time early, got her to switch off and had targets to run down. She showed an explosive turn of foot and did it cozy.”

King Edward VII (G2)

Group stakes racing on Day 4 wrapped up with the 1 1/2-mile King Edward VII for three-year-old colts and geldings, in which Causeway battled to a narrow victory at just over even-money odds in the World Pool.

A Coolmore runner trained by Aidan O’Brien and guided by Ryan Moore, Causeway arrived at Ascot off four straight wins in Ireland, including a triumph in the 1 1/4-mile Gallinule (G3). In the King Edward VII, he spent most of the journey in third place before rallying outside in the homestretch to catch Ancient Egypt by a head in 2:28.74.

“We stepped Causeway up from a mile to a mile and a quarter, and now to a mile and a half,” said O’Brien. “He is very lazy, so it is hard to know what is in there. Ryan said that he was toying with him and that, when he gets there, he is lazy.”

The win marked Moore’s 98th success at Royal Ascot. The acclaimed jockey is closing in on his milestone 100th winner at the royal meeting.

“Ryan is an incredible rider,” said O’Brien. “What can I say? He is so professional, so talented, so brilliant and so consistent, and he does not take anything for granted. He is always wanting to learn; he wants to make himself better, he is never complacent in any way, and he gets us. He is an unbelievable man. We are so delighted and grateful that he is there for us when we want him.”

Ancient Egypt, who led early before settling down to track the pace in second place, ran a gallant race in defeat, pulling 10 lengths clear of third-place finisher Water to Wine. Golden Story and Venetian Prince trailed the field.

Three handicaps rounded out the action on Day 4. The Sandringham Stakes went to Green Carrera, who broke from post 30 in a 30-horse field. American trainer Wesley Ward snagged his first win of the meet when Bacio took the Palace of Holyroodhouse under jockey Juan Hernandez, and Opportunity prevailed by 1 3/4 lengths in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes.