Coronation Stakes Tips 2026: O'Brien Superstar To Light Up Ascot

The co-feature race of the day on Friday is the Coronation Stakes and it will see the winners of the 1000 Guineas from both sides of the Irish Sea collide. The scoreline reads 1-1 between the two Aidan O'Brien trained Classic winners, but Billy Grimshaw believes there will be a decisive answer come half past four tomorrow afternoon...

One of the results that has most frustrated me from a punting point of view this season was undoubtedly the Irish 1000 Guineas, where PRECISE bolted clear to win in impressive fashion under Wayne Lordan. Her SP of 4/1 looks laughably big given her reputation before the season started and what she went on to do in the race, however the fact she blew out in the 1000 Guineas a few weeks before at Newmarket, coupled with Ryan Moore deserting her, convinced me to leave her alone from a betting perspective. I won't be doing that again in a hurry, and certainly not in this race.

I was delighted to see her skipping The Oaks as I don't think a filly with this much speed would've stayed in a month of Sundays the trip required at Epsom, and she will be absolutely cherry ripe for this big assignment. Irish 1000 Guineas winners have a wicked recent record in this race, all coming from Aidan O'Brien's stable and I am confident she will be the fourth filly from five to successfully attempt the double. Her main rival will be her Newmarket conqueror True Love, undoubtedly a wonderful filly but on the evidence of what we saw both as juveniles and last time out at the Curragh, not on the level of Precise.

Moore has a record of zero from two this season when picking between these fillies but he is still the best jockey there is, especially around Ascot, and he is on the most likely winner here. The worry could perhaps be good to firm ground, which is the surface Precise bombed out on at Newmarket and True Love excelled on, however Precise has form on it as a juvenile and is bred to handle faster ground too. Both fillies put in excellent performances to win their respective Classics, but watching both back to refresh my memory there is simply no comparison into which horse has more talent.

This is not a two horse race, for all I think they will finish in the same order as they did at the Curragh, as Balantina for Aidan's son Donnacha was a very impressive Breeders' Cup winner as a juvenile on rattling quick ground. She has not been seen since and it'd be a stunning performance to beat the two best fillies so far this campaign on her seasonal debut, but she does have ability and we know Donnacha will be itching for some limelight given older brother Joseph is currently stamping his authority on this year's Royal Ascot.

There doesn't seem to be too much pace on in this race, barring the Billy Loughnane ridden Timeforshowcasing who is actually another Guineas winner, the German edition. With all due respect to any German readers, that form is not up to the class the Ballydoyle raiders bring but the rest of the field would do well not to let her get too far clear if they insist on dawdling behind. Her form predominantly comes on rain softened ground so this test on good to firm is an unknown, but perhaps she will sneak into the three.

Touleen ran well enough in the 1000 Guineas, finishing sixth, but was nowhere close to matching True Love and as such looks a bit skinny at around 8/1 in here. At much bigger odds, I'd rather side with Black Caviar Gold for Paddy Twomey as her fourth in the Irish 1000 Guineas is arguably a better piece of form, yet she is more than treble the price. They are all playing for third place though, one suspects, and I am hoping we see Precise at her brilliant best here to crown a wonderful afternoon. Racing needs stars and this filly, along with my selection in the Commonwealth Cup, can be just that.