Cercene's Coronation Stakes win ends long wait for Joseph Murphy

The Guardian

3 hours ago

A lifetime of hope and endeavour enjoyed a glorious reward here on Friday as Joseph Murphy, who is two years short of a half-century with a trainer's licence, finally added a Group One winner to his record as Cercene, at 33-1, edged out the 6-4 favourite, Zarigana, in the Coronation Stakes, the feature event on day four at Royal Ascot.
'It's 50 years of work by the family,' Murphy said afterwards. 'Going from a small yard, switching from National Hunt to the Flat and always believing, buying horses and believing that they're going to be good. It's a lifetime's ambition to have a Group One winner.'
Cercene had to dig deep for the win, as Zarigana headed her at the furlong pole but then failed to put the race to bed. Cercene, though, did her trainer proud, pulling out more all the way to the line to get home by half a length. Francis-Henri Graffard, Zarigana's trainer, suggested afterwards that he might 'need to buy a pair of blinkers', but the will to win that Cercene showed when it mattered is a vital part of a true Group One winner's makeup.
Cercene went off at a big price, but she had finished a four-length third behind Lake Victoria – a warm ante-post favourite for this race until injury intervened – in the Irish 1,000 Guineas in late May. She settled well in fourth for Gary Carroll, her jockey, as Falakeyah, the second-favourite, cut out the running, and as Falakeyah faded in the straight, Carroll was perfectly positioned both to strike for home and then take advantage as Zarigana's momentum faltered.
'Decent horses are very hard to come by and I've been lucky enough to find one with a huge heart,' Carroll said. 'If I was ever to ride a Group One winner, I'm delighted it was for Joe Murphy. He's been supporting me since I was a 7lb claimer, a long, long time.
'The French horse [Zarigana] came and she actually got headed, but she's very tough, she stuck her head out and really went to the line for me.'
It was very much a day for smaller family operations as earlier in the afternoon, Harry Eustace's Time For Sandals, another outsider at 25-1, had taken the Group One Commonwealth Cup, and since Eustace also won the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday, the yard now has two more Group Ones at this year's meeting than Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle.
'The most concerning part was her draw [in stall one],' Eustace said. 'When Karl Burke's filly [Venetian Sun in the opening Albany Stakes] came out of one, everyone just stuck there [and] we had plenty of pace.
'It's the first time she's had a fast horse to follow. We were… I don't want to say very confident, but we just felt we hadn't seen the best from her for one reason or another. We were always confident in a race like this, where there would be fast horses taking her along, that's really what she needed.'
James Eustace, Harry's father, trained at the family's Park Lodge Stables for 30 years before passing on the licence in 2020, and his other son, David, has enjoyed a successful training career in Australia and Hong Kong, highlighted by a Melbourne Cup success with Gold Trip in 2022.
'If we did anything, we instilled a work ethic in them,' Eustace said, 'hopefully by example rather than by a long tom, but we were so lucky from day one that they loved the whole thing.
'We tried to make Harry go to university, he went to Edinburgh for two years, enjoyed himself immensely and then dropped out and went to Australia to work in racing, and hasn't looked back.'
Venetian Sun will be aimed towards next year's 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket after her decisive win in the opening Albany Stakes.
'I think she's a very special filly,' Karl Burke, Venetian Sun's trainer, said. 'The work she's done at home, I haven't had a two-year-old filly work like that. Just the last couple of months, six weeks, she's kicking all the Group horses out of the way at home.'
Venetian Sun was backed from 12-1 to 7-1 before her win – 'given the confidence Karl gave us, we had to have a decent bet,' Tony Bloom, Venetian Sun's co-owner, said afterwards – and is a 25-1 shot for the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May 2026.
The fourth day concluded with Aidan O'Brien and the John & Thady Gosden stables tied on five winners each ahead of tomorrow's seven-race card. The race for the jockeys' award is also just about in play, as Oisin Murphy's win on Adrestia in the last was his fourth of the meeting, two behind Ryan Moore's tally of six.
A dozen runners from Japan have tried and failed to become the country's first winner at Royal Ascot since the turn of the century, but the 13th could finally make the breakthrough on the final day of this year's Royal meeting, when Satono Reve will go to post with a leading chance in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.
Noriyuki Hori's six-year-old is a Grade One winner in Japan and also finished within a length of Ka Ying Rising, the world's top-rated sprinter, in a Group One at Sha Tin in December.
He was two-and-a-quarter lengths behind Ka Ying Rising at the same track in April before heading to the UK, and has been given plenty of time to acclimatise after arriving in Newmarket on 2 May.
Satono Reve (3.40) is up against a deep and international field, with fancied runners from France and Ireland as well as a strong local defence led by last year's Commonwealth Cup winner, Inisherin.
At his best, though, he is the equal of any of Saturday's runners and it is also a positive sign that João 'Magic Man' Moreira, who was in the saddle for his big run in December, has flown in to take the ride.
Royal Ascot 2.30: Aidan O'Brien is going for a sixth win in nine years with Moments Of Joy but she may struggle against the €2m Frankel colt Treanmor, who was sent off at 1-3 for his debut in May and powered four lengths clear with minimal encouragement.
Redcar 1.10 Try Storm Cat 1.43 Jungle Monarch 2.14 Paco's Pride 2.49 Tiva 3.21 Azure Angel 4.05 Lima Sierra 4.45 Park Street
Newmarket 2.03 Crowd Quake 2.38 Commander's Intent 3.10 Elarak 3.45 Circe 4.25 Red Flyer 5.05 Diamont Katie
Royal Ascot 2.30 Treanmor 3.05 Rebel's Romance 3.40 Satono Reve (nb) 4.20 Remmooz 5.00 Purosangue (nap) 5.35 Ernst Blofeld 6.10 Sober
Ayr 4.10 Mo Of Cairo 4.50 Lion's House 5.25 Oneforthegutter 5.55 Enchanting 6.33 Superior Council 7.08 Pinjarra 7.38 Coeur Jaune 8.08 Woohoo
Bangor-on-Dee 3.55 Barranco 4.35 Obsessedwithyou 5.15 Leading Force 5.50 Solent Gateway 6.25 Bellbird 7.00 Chillhi 7.30 Lord Cauvelliere
Lingfield 5.45 Laser Focus 6.20 Skimming Along 6.53 Lovethiswayagain 7.23 Latynina 7.55 Blue Collar Lad 8.25 Banksman 8.55 Beelzebub
Haydock 6.00 Burj Jabeel 6.40 Sugar Hill Babe 7.15 Gold Dawn 7.45 Duke's Command 8.15 Arkhalia Flynn 8.45 Pomme Pomme
Royal Ascot 3.05: Rebel's Romance had enough class to win last month's Yorkshire Cup without being ideally suited by the step up in trip, and the return to 12 furlongs here will play to his many strengths.
Royal Ascot 4.20: The progressive Remmooz has shown enough in two wins this season to suggest he can improve past more exposed opponents.
Royal Ascot 5.00: Oisin Murphy's mount Purosangue was less than two lengths behind likely favourite More Thunder at Newmarket last time without being given a hard time, is 8lb better off today and has been drawn well in 22.
Royal Ascot 5.35: Ernst Blofeld does not have much to find to take a hand in the finish on the basis of his handicap debut at Newbury and cheekpieces could eke out the necessary improvement.
Royal Ascot 6.10: Willie Mullins's Sober was a dual Group Two winner for André Fabre in 2023 and has several pounds in hand of his rivals.