Duke Of Cambridge Stakes
 QuinnBet
Group 2, Ascot 15:40
£225,000 guaranteed,
4yo plus,
1m, Class 1   
Wednesday 18th June 2025

1 Crimson Advocate 13/2
2 Cinderella's Dream 5/4F
3 Fallen Angel 6/1
7 ran NR: Elmalka Distances: 1¾l, hd, ½l
Time: 1m 38.60s (fast by 0.60s)

Crimson Advocate, back on the Ascot stage where she first dazzled us as a juvenile, came from the tail and fairly rock‑and‑rolled her elders. Last off the bridle, first on the line – and by a daylight‑making length and three‑quarters – she turned a seemingly straightforward Group 2 into a personal exhibition.

This was Royal Ascot déjà vu for the now‑four‑year‑old: Queen Mary heroine in 2023, Duke of Cambridge demolition job in 2025. New silks, new stable – John & Thady Gosden for Wathnan Racing – but the same jet‑propelled finish. James McDonald, flown in to play the able deputy, dropped her out stone last, nursed her round the elbow, and pressed the turbo just as the hand‑timers reached panic stations. In a handful of strides she’d gone from ‘nowhere’ to ‘too late lads’, blasting past the favoured Cinderella’s Dream and fellow Wathnan inmate Fallen Angel .

John Gosden, all Cheshire‑cat grin afterwards, confessed he’d expected a big run but not that party‑trick: “At the furlong I thought Running Lion had pinched it – the commentator did too – and then, whoosh, our filly appears out of the mist. She used to look for a bend after three furlongs; now she looks for something to run down.”

Where next? Even the master of Clarehaven was happy to leave the atlas unopened: “I thought she’d place, not poleaxe them. We’ll recalibrate.”

McDonald, ice‑cool in the saddle and beaming in the winner’s circle, ticked every pre‑race query: “Would she relax? Yes. Stay a stiff mile? Absolutely. When William Buick pressed the button a furlong and a half out, I was still on the bridle.” Australia’s top man called it “a carnival like no other” and bagged the sort of carnival prize that books the return flight 12 months in advance.

For the vanquished there were crumbs of comfort. Cinderella’s Dream lost little lustre in second – Charlie Appleby already mapping a straight‑track revenge mission in the Falmouth. Fallen Angel’s late head‑bob for third pleased Richard Brown, who fancies autumn ease and perhaps an extra furlong. Running Lion, brave in fourth, gave owner David Howden a heart‑flutter before fitness ebbed inside the last 100 yards.

But the day – and the roar – belonged to Crimson Advocate, a mare who found her wings as the others found the winning post. Same speed, new chapter, and Ascot left reaching for the superlatives once more.

Duke Of Cambridge Stakes
(Fillies' Group 2) (Formerly the Windsor Forest Stakes) (Str)
£225,000 added, 4yo plus, 1m, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Good to Firm, Good in places

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (6)    Crimson Advocate 4 9-2 John & Thady Gosden James McDonald 13/2
2 (3) 1¾ Cinderella's Dream 4 9-5 Charlie Appleby William Buick 5/4F
3 (8) hd Fallen Angel 4 9-2 K R Burke James Doyle 6/1
4 (5) ½ Running Lion 5 9-2 John & Thady Gosden Oisin Murphy 8/1
5 (2) 2¼ Start Of Day 4 9-2 Christopher Head Aurelien Lemaitre 16/1
6 (4) 3¾ One Look 4 9-2 P Twomey W J Lee 5/1
7 (7) ¾ Soprano 4 9-2 George Boughey Billy Loughnane 16/1
NR 3 (1) Elmalka 4 9-2 Roger Varian NON RUNNER

FreeRacingTips

DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE STAKES WINNERS

YR/DATE GR WINNER TRAINER JOCKEY OWNER AGE/WGT SP

2024 2 RUNNING LION John & Thady Gosden Oisin Murphy David Howden 4-9-02 6/1
2023 2 ROGUE MILLENNIUM Tom Clover Daniel Tudhope Scott C Heider 4 9-02 10/1
2022 2 SAFFRON BEACH Jane Chapple-Hyam William Buick Mrs B V Sangster, J Wigan & O Sangster 4 9-07 5/2J
2021 2 INDIE ANGEL John & Thady Gosden Frankie Dettori Cheveley Park Stud 4 9-00 22/1
2020 2 NAZEEF John Gosden Jim Crowley Hamdan Al Maktoum 4-9-00 100/30
2019 2 MOVE SWIFTLY William Haggas Danny Tudhope Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum 4-9-00 9/1
2018 2 ALJAZZI Marco Botti William Buick Salah Al Homaizi & Imad Al Sagar 5-9-00 9/2
2017 2 QEMAH Jean-Claude Rouget FR Gregory Benoist Al Shaqab Racing 4-9-00 5/2F
2016 2 USHERETTE Andre Fabre FR Mickael Barzalona Godolphin 4-9-03 9/4F
2015 2 AMAZING MARIA David O’Meara James Doyle Sir Robert Ogden 4-9-00 25/1
2014 2 INTEGRAL Sir Michael Stoute Ryan Moore Cheveley Park Stud 4-9-00 9/4F
2013 2 DUNTLE David Wachman IRE Wayne Lordan Flaxman Stables Ireland Ltd 4-8-12 100/30
2012 2 JOVIALITY John Gosden William Buick HRH Princess Haya of Jordan 4-8-12 11/1
2011 2 LOLLY FOR DOLLY Tommy Stack IRE Wayne Lordan David Keoghan 4-8-12 11/1
2010 2 STRAWBERRYDAIQUIRI Sir Michael Stoute Ryan Moore Renata Jacobs 4-8-12 9/2
2009 2 SPACIOUS James Fanshawe Johnny Murtagh Cheveley Park Stud 4-8-12 10/1
2008 2 SABANA PERDIDA Alain de Royer-Dupre FR Christophe Lemaire Scuderia Zaro 5-8-12 4/1
2007 2 NANNINA John Gosden Jimmy Fortune Cheveley Park Stud 4-8-12 3/1CF
2006 2 SOVIET SONG James Fanshawe Jamie Spencer Elite Racing Club 6-8-12 11/8F
*2005 2 PEERESS Sir Michael Stoute Michael Kinane Cheveley Park Stud 4-8-09 14/1
2004 2 FAVOURABLE TERMS Sir Michael Stoute Kieren Fallon Maktoum Al Maktoum 4-8-12 13/2
*run at York