Sectional Debrief: Royal Ascot 2016 Day Four

The dictionary definition of “Coronation” is “the ceremony of crowning a sovereign”, with presumably no doubt as to who that sovereign is before, let alone after, the event. In that respect, the Coronation Stakes, highlight of the penultimate day of Royal Ascot, is not always appropriately-named.

The closest there was to a Queen in waiting this year was the Irish 1000 Guineas winner Jet Setting, who was sent off favourite in a field of 13. But the Newmarket 1000 Guineas winner, Minding, who had possibly been unlucky in Ireland, was elsewhere conquering different territories, while the winner of the French equivalent of that race, La Cressonniere, was represented merely by proxy.

In the event, it was that proxy, Qemah, who came out on top, and in sufficiently good style to think that she might even have reversed places with her Deauville conqueror had she been present. The true Coronation among the classic miling fillies will have to wait a bit longer, if it happens at all!

In one respect, the Coronation Stakes was a good test which should stand up to future scrutiny: it was run at a true pace – as the sectionals below show – and resulted in a good time. In another respect, not so much.

The runner-up Nemoralia ran into trouble at a crucial stage, Alice Springs was switched and finished strongly without getting in a challenge, while Fireglow was hampered when weakening. Then again, Qemah was notably strong at the end in winning by a length and three quarters.

Those finishing speed %s for the principals are all close to the 99.4% par for the round-course mile at Ascot, and sectional upgrades (based on the difference between each horse’s actual finishing speed % and that par) are minimal. Alice Springs comes out second-best on sectionals, which do not allow for those traffic problems.

Qemah probably now deserves to be rated slightly ahead of La Cressonniere, who had beaten her by just over a length in France. The Deauville race did not come through the occasion with reputation entirely enhanced, however: the second and fourth that day, Nathra and Besharah, ran poorly here.

The other Group 1 on the card, the Commonwealth Cup, had a more anticipated winner in Quiet Reflection, who justified 7/4 favouritism in thoroughly workmanlike style. This did not look as strong a contest as last year’s inaugural one, won by the Champion Sprinter Muhaarar in a fast time, beforehand and certainly does not after the event.

The sectionals show that the race was quite evenly-run, but the overall time is underwhelming. That 74.50s is just 0.70s quicker than the time recorded by Brave Anna in winning the Group 3 Albany Stakes, the opening race on the card, and Brave Anna is only a two-year-old.

Even the 111 sectional rating for Quiet Reflection is taking a positive view of that comparison, though it should be pointed out that the winner had run a lot faster in relative terms when winning the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock the time before.

A slight sense of being underwhelmed also accompanies the result of the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes earlier on the Royal Ascot card.

This race was steadily-run, though not slowly-run, as reflected by those fairly high finishing speed %s. But, again, the overall time is nothing to write home about.

Beacon Rock was the one who benefited most, getting an easy lead, and Across The Stars can be considered value for about double his winning margin of one and a quarter lengths.

However, Muntahaa is the one to note in sectional terms, his sub-25.0s last quarter suggesting he should have been second instead of third. Most of that running came in the final furlong, rather than the penultimate furlong, as well, and the hooded son of Dansili looks like staying further than some aspects of his pedigree might indicate.

The other races on Friday will be appearing in Timeform’s Sectional Archive, along with individual times, finishing speeds and sectional upgrades from the vast majority of the other contests which took place on the day in Britain and Ireland.

There was a winner for the Sectional Uplift Flag in the Duke of Edinburgh Handicap elsewhere on the Royal Ascot card, though not without a worry or two along the way. Kinema had run remarkably fast late on when winning at Goodwood the time before, resulting in a massive 38-lb upgrade on his time performance.

Kinema was backed from 12/1 to 8/1 – by plenty of sectionalistas, no doubt! – but took out third-placed Kings Fete late on and had to survive a stewards’ enquiry.