Venetian Sun, the 11-8 favourite, secured a second consecutive victory at Royal Ascot 2026 by winning the Group One Commonwealth Cup on the fourth day of the prestigious meeting. Trained by Karl Burke and ridden by Clifford Lee, the three-year-old filly triumphed in the six-furlong sprint, adding to her earlier success at the event.
Victory for Karl Burke
Trainer Karl Burke, a Liverpool FC fan, previously won the same race in 2016 with Quiet Reflection, another filly. Venetian Sun's victory came a decade later, continuing Burke's success at Royal Ascot. The daughter of Starman started her career with four consecutive wins as a juvenile, including a stunning performance in the Group Three Albany Stakes over the same course and distance last year. She also narrowly defeated subsequent Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Gstaad in the Group One Prix Morny at Deauville last August.
Connections initially aimed for Classic glory this season, but Venetian Sun finished 11th behind True Love in the Betfred 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket last month, indicating she did not stay the mile distance. However, she returned to six furlongs with a superb victory in the Group Two Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock Park, demonstrating her retained talent and speed. Quiet Reflection also won that Haydock contest before her Royal victory, and Venetian Sun followed suit with a smooth triumph at Ascot.
Race Details
Under Clifford Lee, Venetian Sun traveled exceptionally well off the pace. When asked to go, she moved to the front and held off a strong challenge from 50-1 outsider Spicy Marg, trained by Michael Bell and ridden by Tom Marquand, to win by a head. William Haggas' Division (8-1), ridden by James Doyle in the Wathnan Racing colours, finished third, half a length further back, while Donnacha O'Brien's Havana Anna (28-1) was fourth, another length and a quarter adrift.
Owned by Brighton and Hove Albion FC owner Tony Bloom, Venetian Sun is likely to aim for more Group One glory against older horses in next month's July Cup at Newmarket, where she is as low as 5-2 favourite with some bookmakers.
Reactions from Connections
Burke, securing his ninth Royal Ascot winner, expressed relief after a week of disappointments. He said: "Definitely relief. A lot of faith in the filly but relief, it's such a hard place to win here, especially the Group Ones. I wouldn't even say we've been hitting the post. They haven't been running badly but we've had plenty of shots. She's a great filly. Everyone was going on about the Haydock run, I think she appreciates that cut in the ground and it probably slows a few others up but she's a superstar filly."
Burke added: "That's more relief than enjoyment. She is what she is, she is such a laid-back filly and it was probably unusual the way she did it at Haydock last time and everybody was talking about how good it was visually, which it was, but I think the ground had a lot to do with that. I've said it before a few times, Clifford Lee when he rode her last year, even when he was winning Group races on her, kept saying, 'She's feeling the ground'. At Haydock was probably the first time she's actually raced on soft ground. I think that's probably the reason why she's not been as visually impressive, but she's still a Group One winner."
On Lee, who returned to action earlier this year after a horrific motorbike accident, Burke commented: "Delighted for him, he's going the right way all the time, he's riding better and better."
Jockey Clifford Lee's Perspective
Lee, securing his third victory at the meeting, two of which were on Venetian Sun, said: "It's great. This filly has already got me my first Group One in France last year and to pull it off again this year is just fantastic. It's a pleasure to ride her and this is what it's all about, these big days. We obviously tried to stretch her for the Guineas over the mile but she's got loads of boot. I just told myself I'd try and kid her into the race and I think it was probably at the furlong pole when I asked the question, she's just fantastic. I obviously wanted to be a jockey and ride as many winners as I could at a young age, as a kid. It's fantastic when days like this happen."
He added: "Once I hit the front she was just doing enough, but when the second horse came to me, she wouldn't let the second horse get past me. I don't really put pressure on myself; I'm here to do a job and get the winners, if we have a bit of luck and it goes right on the day, then happy days. It's gone brilliant today but we knew she's a really good filly – she obviously won the Prix Morny as a two-year-old. It's fantastic for everyone. We obviously tried to stretch her to the mile, but dropped back to six, she's been unbeaten now. She's definitely a sprinter. A Group One at Ascot is great – everyone wants that Group One."
Owner Tony Bloom's Comments
Owner Tony Bloom said: "Really, really tough race and it was not easy at the end – only won by a short-head – but what a horse. And now we know that six furlongs is her best distance, we'd probably prefer a little bit of cut in the ground but she can race on all grounds and she won this tremendous race and it's absolutely amazing."
Bloom continued: "We've been speaking to Karl. He'd been confident all season. Obviously, the 1000 Guineas she just didn't stay the distance, we didn't know until we'd tried. He's been confident going into this race, we've been confident but you know how difficult it is to win a Group One at Royal Ascot. She was tough enough and the great racehorses do win those difficult finishes when it's close. She is a dream horse to have and we've got lots to look forward to with her."
He concluded: "We're getting a lot of help on the horses and, as a group, they're doing really, really well and I love watching them all and, particularly, coming to Royal Ascot is a special occasion."
