Commonwealth Cup Tips, Offers and Odds
Commonwealth Cup Preview: Tips, Betting Offers and Odds
The first Group 1 action on day four of Royal Ascot comes in the form of the festival’s newest race. Here we provide our betting tips for the Commonwealth Cup and highlight some of the best odds and offers available.
This Group 1, six furlong event is a race for three year olds only which offers £400,000 in total prize money and was first run at the track in 2015. With more than £200,000 for the winner, it’s no surprise we have some great horses involved this year.
Commonwealth Cup Previous Winners
- 2019 – Advertise – jockey Frankie Dettori, trainer Martyn Meade
- 2018 – Eqtidaar – jockey Jim Crowley, trainer Michael Stoute
- 2017 – Caravaggio – jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Aidan O’Brien
- 2016 – Quiet Reflection – jockey Dougie Costello, trainer Karl Burke
- 2015 – Muhaarar – jockey Dane O’Neill, trainer Charlie Hills
Race History
Whilst the roots of the five day Royal Ascot Festival go way back to the 1800s, there have been a number of innovations and alterations to the exact make-up of the meeting over the years, either in terms of the conditions of a race being changed or a new event being added to the schedule.
2015 saw the introduction of this major new Group 1 sprinting contest. Prior to the addition of this race to the programme, the top three year old sprinters in training were forced to tackle their elders in The Diamond Jubilee Stakes if they wished to take part in the festival’s top six furlong contest.
Whilst three year old runners had generally held their own in that prestigious event, it was nevertheless seen as beneficial to the European racing programme as a whole to stage a number of three year old only sprint contests. This race was at the forefront of those plans and it was important that the showpiece event proved to be a success. In order to maximise the Commonwealth Cups chances, the Diamond Jubilee Stakes became a race for runners aged four and older only in the same year that this new race was introduced.
This new event does have one feature which makes it very different from other Group 1 races. Namely the fact that geldings are allowed to take part. Group 1 contests usually prohibit geldings from running. Owners and breeders would always prefer the prestige of a Group 1 win to be bestowed upon a colt in order to enhance their stud value. The Commonwealth Cup is unique in being the first Group 1 contest in Europe which allows the participation of geldings. Filly, gelding or colt, this race provides the opportunity to ascertain who really is the fastest three year old of them all.
The Commonwealth Cup made a flying start to life in terms of the quality of its inaugural winner. Charles Hills’ Muhaarar was the dominant sprinter of 2015, winning the Greenham Stakes, July Cup, Prix Maurice de Gheest and British Champions Sprint Stakes in addition to his success here. As a result of these exploits, the son of Oasis Dream was unsurprisingly named as the Cartier Champion Sprinter of the year. As an example of how lucrative a successful stallion can be, the owners of Muhaarer wasted no time in retiring the horse to stud at the end of his three year old career.