The 2025 Royal Ascot Festival provided a vintage renewal of the June showpiece, with both familiar and not-so-familiar names tasting success in Berkshire.
To no one’s great surprise, the biggest yards in the game peppered the winner’s enclosure. Rarely returning empty-handed from Ascot, Aidan O’Brien and John Gosden led the way with five winners apiece.
However, this year, the meeting wasn’t all about the established giants. Having each bagged the first Group 1 success of their career, Royal Ascot 2025 will live long in the memory of Harry Eustace and Jim Goldie.
There was also cause for celebration on the Emerald Isle, as the County Tipperary operations of Paddy Twomey and Joseph Murphy registered landmark triumphs. Having proven they can mix it with the best on the big stage, the Irish duo have grand plans for their Ascot conquering stars.
Coronation Queen Cercene Targeting Curragh Classic
In a field containing the unbeaten Falakeyah, French 1000 Guineas winner Zarigana, and a pair of Aidan O’Brien fillies, the Joseph Murphy-trained Cercene started at 33/1 for the Friday highlight of the Coronation Stakes.
While it is always easy in hindsight, that looked like a big price for a filly who had finished ahead of the reopposing Duty First, Flight, Shimmering and January, when third in the Irish 1000 Guineas. Perhaps those odds had more to do with the Group 1 record of her trainer.
Now 70 years old, Murphy took out his training license in 1988. 37 years had passed since that day, and not once had he saddled a Group 1 winner. Listed, Group 3, and Group 2 prizes had made their way back to his County Tipperary base, but never before a top-tier contest.
That all changed in this 1m event on the round course. Despite missing the break, Cercene worked her way back into contention and was amongst the first to lay down her challenge in the straight. Ahead at the 1f mark, she looked booked for second when headed by Zarigana with only around 100 yards to go. However, in a battle of wills, it was Cercene who toughed it out to get back up and score by half a length.
Coronation Stakes 2025 Full Result
| Position | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Cercene | Gary Carroll | Joseph Murphy | 33/1 |
| 2nd | Zarigana | Mickael Barzalona | Francis-Henri Graffard | 6/4 |
| 3rd | January | Ryan Moore | Aidan O’Brien | 8/1 |
| 4th | Cathedral | David Egan | Ralph Beckett | 33/1 |
| 5th | Chantilly Lace | Rossa Ryan | Ralph Beckett | 12/1 |
| 6th | Exactly | Wayne Lordan | Aidan O’Brien | 14/1 |
| 7th | Kon Tiki | William Buick | Jane Chapple-Hyam | 17/2 |
| 8th | Flight | Oisin Murphy | Ollie Sangster | 22/1 |
| 9th | Falakeyah | Jim Crowley | Owen Burrows | 5/2 |
| 10th | Simmering | Dylan Browne McMonagle | Ollie Sangster | 66/1 |
| 11th | Duty First | Hollie Doyle | Archie Watson | 66/1 |
This tenacious triumph represented a first Group 1 for both Murphy and jockey Gary Carroll, with the jubilant handler delighting in a win that represented “the fulfilment of my life’s ambition in the racing industry.”
The 1m Matron Stakes is the most obvious target on the back of this success. It will be no surprise to see Cercene line up in that contest, but connections also suggested their star filly could move up in trip. The 1m2f Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood is one possible target. Rather than tackle her elders, Cercene may be handed a supplementary entry in the Irish Oaks at the Curragh on Saturday, 19th July.
Sired by Derby winner Australia, Cercene has a chance on paper to stay the 1m4f distance in the fillies Classic. A Curragh clash with Epsom heroine Minnie Hauk would certainly provide a compelling spectacle. However, Murphy stressed that a final decision will not be made until closer to the time.
“If she’s very well, we will supplement her a week before the race. We won’t be throwing away 50 grand lightly.”
Carmers Storms to Queen Vase Before Shot at St. Leger
Two days before the heroics of Cercene, Carmers struck a blow for the smaller Irish yards in the Queen’s Vase. Unlike the overlooked Coronation Stakes winner, this three-year-old Wootton Bassett colt was relatively well-found by the market.
Arriving at Ascot on the back of a win in the Listed Yeats Stakes at Navan, Carmers was one of only a few probable stayers in the field. Sent off at 9/2, the good-looking bay sat just beyond market leaders Asmarani and Pinhole in the betting.
Whilst yet to race over the 1m6f of the Queen’s Vase, Billy Lee’s mount was never stronger than at the line in his 1m5f Listed success. Nevertheless, he still needed to confirm his staying power in the heat of battle. And that he did. Rousted into the lead well before the furlong pole, the three-year-old displayed admirable tenacity to fend off the late challengers with something to spare.
Twice successful in Group 1 company, Paddy Twomey is no stranger to landing a significant prize. However, this was a first-ever Royal Ascot triumph for the trainer. Famed for only entering horses in races they have a solid chance of winning, Twomey sent just four runners to Ascot – three of whom finished in the placed positions.
Paddy Twomey’s Royal Ascot 2025 Runners
| Horse | Race | Position | SP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carmers | Queen’s Vase | 1st | 9/2 |
| One Look | Duke Of Cambridge Stakes | 6th | 5/1 |
| Rogue Legend | Windsor Castle Stakes | =3rd | 4/1 |
| Catalina Delcarpio | Ribblesdale Stakes | 3rd | 2/1 |
Given that impressive record – and an overall strike rate of around 30% over the past five years – many punters may sit up and take notice when Twomey says:
“Every time Carmers runs, he gets better. He stays well, and I think the St Leger looks a reasonable target for him.”
Having landed a first Royal Ascot success, could Carmers emulate Leading Light (2013), Kew Gardens (2018), and Eldar Eldarov (2022), who all followed Queen’s Vase triumph with a win in the final Classic of the British season? Available to back at a general 12/1, he seems likely to be a popular ante-post each-way option.