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13 Jun 2020

Speedy Pierre Lapin heads 20 for Commonwealth Cup

Pierre Lapin

A total of 20 sprinters have been entered for the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup on Day Four of Royal Ascot.

The standout pair in the field that head the market are the Roger Varian-trained, Pierre Lapin and the American raider, Kimari.

The former was seen sparingly as a two-year-old appearing just twice, however, those impressive victories are the reason for the colt’s strong position in the market. On just his second start, Pierre Lapin ran out a ready winner in Newbury’s Group 2 Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes. If he were to go on to win the Commonwealth Cup, he would be the first horse to do so off the back of winning the Mill Reef.

Wesley Ward traditionally brings a host of raiders over for the Royal meeting and Kimari certainly looks to be a leading chance. The three-year-old has been to the Royal stage before, finishing second in last year’s Queen Mary Stakes to Raffle Prize. Strong form at this level is difficult to ignore and Kimari has been in excellent form since returning to the States.

Another raider is the F-H Graffard-trained Wooded, who represents France. The colt has been thrown in at Group level from an early age and was very impressive when winning the Prix Texanita last time out.

Other runners include Royal Crusade for the Godolphin outfit of Charlie Appleby and William Buick and they will be hoping a second place to Threat in the Pommery Champagne Stakes will be a good base to step forward and grab a Group 1. Golden Horde for Clive Cox and Adam Kirby is also hard to ignore with a second to the highly-rated Earthlight in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes to his name.

Full Entries:

Aberama Gold, Art Power, Dubai Station, Final Song, Golden Horde, Kimari, Les Hogues, Lope Y Fernandez, Millisle, Mums Tipple, Pierre Lapin, Pistoletto, Royal Commando, Royal Crusade, Royal Lytham, Shadn, Southern Hills, Sunday Sovereign, Venture Rebel, Wooded.