The Coronation Stakes takes place on Friday 19th June, the fourth and penultimate day of the Royal Ascot meeting. Undoubtedly the highlight of the day, this Group 1 fillies-only race is part of the British Champions Series, meaning big money, some fantastic runners and huge betting interest. Run over a distance a mile, the race dates back to 1840 and commemorates the coronation of Queen Victoria two years earlier. A Group 1 since 1988, it is open to fillies aged three years and over and promises to be a fascinating betting proposition. Read on as we offer up our Coronation Stakes predictions, the best live odds for all the runners and our top betting tips.
The obvious place to start is with Aiden O’Brien’s brilliant Found, the current favourite in the betting, priced at odds of 2/1 with Bet365 and others. This Irish challenger was second to Pleascach at the Irish 1,000 Guineas recently and also came second on her return to the track at the start of May prior to that. The ground should suit here but we suspect there may be a little better value to be had lower down the betting and we predict in the company of so many top class runners Found may come up just short again.
There are two other runners who the odds makers see as the main challenge to the O’Brien-trained favourite, with Ervedya and Lucida both priced at betting odds of 7/2 with Bet365 whilst the field is 12/1 bar. We predict the winner will come from that trio and with Found already discounted, our Coronation Stakes betting tip is Lucida.
This Godolphin-owned three-year-old is trained by Jim Bolger and has only failed to place once in her six runs to date when she couldn’t quite keep pace with some good runners in the final furlong. Second last time out in the 1,000 Guineas, she was only beaten by a brilliant ride by Ryan Moore on Legatissimo and can go one better here by adding to her two career wins.