Friday's Coronation Cup tips: Best bets for the Group One race at Epsom
Planet Sport tipsters get stuck into the Coronation Cup at Epsom on Friday, June 3. Who is going to win the Group 1 race?
Published: Jun 03, 2022
The first day of The Derby Festival at Epsom is usually all about the Oaks, but there's another Group One race lurking on Friday in the form of the Coronation Cup (15:10).
The Coronation Cup has been on the racing calendar since 1902, and it's another Epsom favourite that has been dominated by Lester Piggott (nine wins) and trainer Aidan O'Brien (8).
Below is our tipsters' selections for the race, you can also get all the latest racecards and results by visiting the Planet Sport live centre.
Living Legend - Pete Farries (Planet Sport tipster)
My star pick is going to be the Mark Johnston runner Living Legend. I was so impressed by the win in the Magnolia Stakes, then went on to win at Newmarket. I think the price, at the moment, is way too big.
Much of the focus is will be on favourite and last year's winner Pyledriver, but it's hard to win this race in back-to-back years, even though St Nicholas Abbey did it three times in the early 2010s.
Living Legend is way too big of a price to ignore.
Manobo - Tom Reed (Racing writer)
There's no doubt that Pyledriver is a quality individual but also hasn't troubled the top three in his last couple of races.
Charlie Appleby's Manobo is in good form after wintering in the UAE. The four-year-old's form is over longer than Friday's trip but the gelding did beat subsequent Derby second Mojo Star on debut over a mile and two.
It might be a close one but if Pyledriver needs the run, Manobo's stamina could come to the fore.
Palavecino e/w - Scott Allen (Planet Sport editor and Epsom native)
Here's your crackers bet for the Coronation Cup, rank outsider Palavecino. A cheeky quid each-way, at a massive price, is really the only way to go here as he is highly unlikely to win. However, he's a front runner which should get the blood pumping if he's still in the mix in the final few furlongs.
He won a ten furlong handicap back in January, but this test will probably be too much. The Epsom track is a brute and has gobbled up much better horses than Palavecino...but you never know
Last year’s battling winner Pyledriver will bid to add his name to an elite group who have won the Coronation Cup more than once when he faces five rivals in today’s DahlBury-sponsored Gr1, which forms part of the 35-race QIPCO British Champions Series.
The five-year-old, who took his career earnings past the £1m mark when an unlucky-in-running fourth in Meydan’s Sheema Classic in March, would join Petite Etoile (1960 and 1961), Triptych (1987 and 1988) and Warrsan (2003 and 2004), among dual winners, although he will have to come back again in 12 months’ time if he is to match St Nicholas Abbey, who won in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
With regular pilot Martin Dwyer still sidelined by a knee injury, Dwyer’s father-in-law William Muir has turned once again to QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Famer Frankie Dettori, and he is hoping the partnership enjoys more luck than in Dubai, where Dettori reportedly admitted he should have won.
Pyledriver will be partered by Frankie Dettori today (Pic – British Champion Series)
Muir, who had several near misses at the top level before gaining a first Group 1 win in just the third month of a new partnership with Chris Grassick, said: “Pyledriver ran a fabulous race in Dubai, but Frankie came back in and held his hands up and said he was sorry.
“He said he knew the track like the back of his hand and you always get a split up the rail, but he waited and waited and it never came. He said it cost him two lengths, and he was only beaten three-quarters of a length so you can work it out for yourselves. He said he should have won, but it was a great run and we’ve aimed at this race since.”
Everything has gone to plan, Muir said, and it’s a bonus perhaps that Pyledriver does not face last year’s Derby winner Adayar, who was initially being aimed here. Not that Muir would have dreamed of ducking the challenge.
Muir said: “After Pyledriver beat Al Aasy in last year’s Coronation Cup we were aiming him at the King George, and his last piece of work, with a very good horse over at Charlie Hills’s, was sensational, to say the least. I went home that day and thought it would take a very good horse to beat him in the King George, and I didn’t care that the Derby winner was going there, but unfortunately he tore a muscle and he didn’t run again until November, when we were preparing him for an international campaign.
“It was a phenomenal run when he was second in Hong Kong, the first time we had ever travelled him, and you can forget what happened in Saudi next time as he was drawn on the wide outside and nothing went right.”
While a clash with Adayar will have to wait for another day, Charlie Appleby nevertheless appears to saddle the main danger in Manobo, who was second in the two-mile Dubai Gold Cup the same day as Pyledriver ran in the Sheema Classic. Appleby might well have run Manobo in that race instead if he hadn’t had Yibir for it, and he has said that dropping back in trip “is not a concern whatsoever”.
Jockey William Buick likes Manobo’s chance and is hoping the Sea The Stars colt will give him a second, and more fulfilling, win in the race after horse of the year Ghaiyyath won a COVID-impacted Coronation Cup at a behind closed doors Newmarket two years ago.
Buick said: “Ghaiyyath was a very special horse, but the Coronation Cup is an Epsom race – simple as that – so hopefully it will never happen again.
“Manobo is still relatively unexposed. He took a big step forward in the Chaudenay, over a mile and seven furlongs at Longchamp in October, and he travelled supremely in the Nad Al Sheba Trophy over a mile six on his return in February. The Dubai Gold Cup was the first time he had been beaten, and they went very slow and so he did far too much. He did well to finish second that day, and what we saw there was a horse who needed to come back in trip.
“The Coronation Cup is a nice starting point for him back over a shorter trip. It’s the first time he’s run in a Group 1, and it’s his first time racing around Epsom, although he had a spin round there last week during the gallops morning. He’s a horse we don’t know yet how good he is.”
Owen Burrows bids for a breakthrough first Group 1 win in his first season operating from new premises when he saddles Hukum, who was a Group 2 winner in Dubai before finishing a close seventh in the Sheema Classic, running on. Despite four Group wins Hukum finds himself living in the shadow of his younger brother Baaeed, the outstanding miler, but Burrows was “thrilled” with the Dubai run, which he feels was a career best, and he has been happy with him since.
Aidan O’Brien, seeking a ninth win in the Coronation Cup, will be represented by High Definition, who ran the race of his life when beaten only a neck by Alenquer, with State of Rest and Lord North close behind, in what looked a strong renewal of the ten-and-a-half furlong Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh on 22nd May. He has yet to show his form over further, but he started favourite when hampered in last year’s Irish Derby and is well worth another chance at the trip.
Living Legend was ambitiously named, but he is living up to it now. The six-year-old had such a bad tendon injury after winning three of his first five races that owners Barbara and Alick Richmond gave him to trainer Mark Johnston, but after two years in a field he came back to win a Pontefract handicap in September last year for Johnston Racing.
Once his soundness had been established, he was given back to the Richmonds, and he earned a supplementary entry here when completing a hat-trick with a Group 2 defeat of Yibir in the Jockey Club Cup at Newmarket during the QIPCO Guineas Festival.
The field is completed by Palavecino, who has not been seen since February, when he won a decent Lingfield handicap. He represents the in-form Brian Meehan.
Pyledriver Looks for Coronation Cup Repeat
Charlie Appleby says Manobo looks to be a major contender based on his best form.
his season's Coronation Cup (G1) might lack a superstar in the mold of Ghaiyyath , Cirrus des Aigles , or St Nicholas Abbey , but can still be considered a relatively strong running despite its lowly six-runner turnout.
Showers in Surrey earlier in the week raised the possibility of a soft-ground Epsom card and that would have aided the claims of 14-furlong winners Manobo and Hukum , but the rain has subsided and the surface is drying out by the hour.
Pyledriver triumphed over Al Aasy in last season's Coronation Cup and stands out having achieved that feat on three occasions—twice more than High Definition and Hukum.
William Muir ended a 21-year wait for a first group 1 win when Pyledriver drove through the rain in the 2021 Coronation Cup and the Lambourn trainer appears confident his stable star can pull off a repeat.
Muir, who trains in partnership with Chris Grassick, has been delighted with how Pyledriver has trained since an unlucky fourth in the Sheema Classic in March and heads to Epsom with little to fear.
"Pyledriver has been an unbelievable horse," said Muir. "I've never had a horse who can just go and do what he does. You declare him and you don't care if it rains or if it doesn't rain, you haven't got to worry about the ground.
"I've been doing this a long time now and don't take anything for granted. People have seen that he's got the talent and rightly so he's at the top of the market, but that doesn't mean you go there and it's a walk in the park.
"He did his last canter on Friday and was very fresh and well. He's as strong as he's ever been in his life and you can ride him any way you like. He's so uncomplicated."
Beyond Epsom, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes (G1) at Ascot, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) at ParisLongchamp, and potential trips to the Breeders' Cup and Hong Kong at the end of the year await Pyledriver, who is taking Muir, Grassick, and owners the La Pyle Partnership on a dream journey.
"We've had a lot of good horses over the years and he's probably the best," added Muir. "It's all been made possible because the owners have kept saying no to all the offers they've had for him. It's very exciting."
The Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) at Meydan in March won by Japanese raider and Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1)-bound Shahryar was undoubtedly the strongest mile-and-a-half race we have seen so far this year and can act as pointer to the Coronation Cup.
Pyledriver shaped better than his fourth-placed finish and a length defeat suggested he was short of room hugging the rail inside the final furlong under Dettori. He holds Hukum (seventh) by three-quarters of a length on that form and there is no logical reason for placings to be reversed at Epsom on this ground.
Living Legend appears to have been underestimated in the early betting on a line through Yibir , who was a staying-on second in the Sheema Classic.
There is a possibility Yibir simply ran miles below form when turned over by Living Legend at odds of 1-4 in the Betfair Exchange Jockey Club Stakes (G2) in April, but Charlie and Mark Johnston's runner almost certainly improved for the return to a mile and a half.
Indeed, he was crying out for further when repelling Tyrrhenian Sea over a mile and a quarter on All-Weather Finals Day.
Drop in Trip Ideal for Manobo
Manobo looked a potential star when rattling off four straight wins in Europe last year and although he lost his unbeaten record to Japan's Stay Foolish in the Dubai Gold Cup Sponsored By Al Tayer Motors (G2) over two miles in March, connections are excited to be dropping back in trip at Epsom.
Trained by Charlie Appleby, Manobo has won races from a mile and a quarter to a mile and six furlongs, on ground ranging from very soft to good, and conditions at Epsom should hold little doubts.
"Manobo looks great and I'm very happy about dropping him back to a mile and a half," said Appleby, looking for his second win in the group 1 after Ghaiyyath scored when the race was run at Newmarket in 2020.
"He over-raced in the Dubai Gold Cup but I think we clearly saw that two miles is a bit too far for him. We have been very pleased with how he has trained going into this and he looks a major contender based on his best form."
Can 'unbelievable horse' Pyledriver land the Coronation Cup again?
Dahlbury Coronation Cup (Group 1) | 1m4f | 4yo+| ITV/RTV
This season's Coronation Cup might lack a superstar in the mould of Ghaiyyath, Cirrus Des Aigles or St Nicholas Abbey, but can still be considered a relatively strong running despite its lowly six-runner turnout.
Showers in Surrey earlier in the week raised the possibility of a soft-ground Epsom card and that would have aided the claims of one-mile-six-furlong winners Manobo and Hukum, but the rain has subsided and the surface is drying out by the hour.
Half the field have already run to a Racing Post Rating in the low-120s and a performance of that calibre has proved good enough to capture five of the last ten runnings.
Pyledriver triumphed from Al Aasy in last season's Coronation Cup and stands out having achieved that feat on three occasions – twice more than High Definition and Hukum.
Conditions will be similar this time and there will be no excuses at a track he handles. That Frankie Dettori again deputises for the injured Martin Dwyer is certainly not a negative.
The Sheema Classic at Meydan in March won by Japanese raider and Prince of Wales's Stakes-bound Shahryar was undoubtedly the strongest mile-and-a-half race we have seen so far this year and can act as pointer to the Coronation Cup.
Pyledriver shaped better than his fourth-placed finish and a length defeat suggested as he was short of room hugging the rail inside the final furlong under Dettori. He holds Hukum (seventh) by three-quarters of a length on that form and there is no logical reason for placings to be reversed at Epsom on this ground.
Living Legend appears to have been underestimated in the early betting on a line through Yibir, who was a staying-on second in the Sheema Classic.
There is a possibility Yibir simply ran miles below form when turned over by Living Legend at odds of 1-4 in the Jockey Club Stakes in April, but Charlie and Mark Johnston's runner almost certainly improved for the return to a mile and a half.
Indeed, he was crying out for further when repelling Tyrrhenian Sea over a mile and a quarter on All-Weather Finals Day.
While an official rating of 112 is more in keeping with a Group 3 winner than a Group 1 champion, Living Legend is on a roll and could have another career best in him.
He is among three who may provide the pace along with rank outsider Palavecino and Aidan O'Brien's representative High Definition.
The trainer has landed three of the last ten Coronation Cups and front-running tactics appeared to suit High Definition superbly in the Tattersalls Gold Cup in May.
The Galileo colt had three top-class horses in deep trouble in the final furlong of the Curragh Group 1 having attempted to make all. Alenquer eventually found another gear to oblige by a neck for a red-hot William Haggas stable, but State Of Rest and Lord North failed to catch the long-time leader.
That was a significant upgrade on previous efforts from High Definition and the time was solid, but the chances of another soft lead feel unlikely.
His ability to deal with a 12-day turnaround, combined with an extra furlong and a half, will be critical to his chance.
Race analysis by Robbie Wilders
Pyledriver raring to go for repeat bid
William Muir ended a 21-year wait for a first Group 1 win when Pyledriver drove through the rain to land the Coronation Cup last year and the Lambourn trainer appears confident his stable star can pull off a repeat.
Muir, who trains in partnership with Chris Grassick, has been delighted with how Pyledriver has trained since an unlucky fourth in the Sheema Classic in March and heads to Epsom with little to fear.
"Pyledriver has been an unbelievable horse," said Muir. "I've never had a horse who can just go and do what he does. You declare him and you don't care if it rains or if it doesn't rain, you haven't got to worry about the ground.
"I've been doing this a long time now and don't take anything for granted. People have seen that he's got the talent and rightly so he's at the top of the market, but that doesn't mean you go there and it's a walk in the park.
"He did his last canter on Friday and was very fresh and well. He's as strong as he's ever been in his life and you can ride him any way you like. He's so uncomplicated."
Beyond Epsom, the King George at Ascot, the Arc at Longchamp and potential trips to the Breeders' Cup and Hong Kong at the end of the year await Pyledriver, who is taking Muir, Grassick and owners the La Pyle Partnership on a dream journey.
"We've had a lot of good horses over the years and he's probably the best," added Muir. "It's all been made possible because the owners have kept saying no to all the offers they've had for him. It's very exciting."
Drop in trip ideal for Manobo
Manobo looked a potential star when rattling off four straight wins in Europe last year and although he lost his unbeaten record to Japan's Stay Foolish in the Dubai Gold Cup over two miles in March, connections are excited to be dropping back in trip at Epsom.
Trained by Charlie Appleby, Manobo has won races from a mile and a quarter to a mile and six furlongs, on ground ranging from very soft to good, and conditions at Epsom should hold little doubts.
"Manobo looks great and I'm very happy about dropping him back to a mile and a half," said Appleby, looking for his second win in the Group 1 after Ghaiyyath scored when the race was run at Newmarket in 2020.
"He over-raced in the Dubai Gold Cup but I think we clearly saw that two miles is a bit too far for him. We have been very pleased with how he has trained going into this and he looks a major contender based on his best form."
What they say
Aidan O'Brien, trainer of High Definition
It's not long since he ran at the Curragh but he seems to be in good form. We were delighted with his run last time and he's stepping back up to a mile and a half now. We always thought he wouldn't mind going up in trip.
Owen Burrows, trainer of Hukum
We've had a good run with him since he came back from Dubai. You probably won't see him much in this country this year but we felt if he was ever going to win a Group 1 in Britain, this is as good an opportunity as he'll get. He's always travelled in his races and that gives you confidence he'll act around Epsom. We've got a few pounds to find but I'm looking forward to it.
Joe Fanning, rider of Living Legend
He was always a nice horse but had a tendon injury and had a long break because of that. He's come back from it better than ever and every race he's improved. He's a hardy horse who always battles. It's another step up again but I wouldn't rule it out.
Brian Meehan, trainer of Palavecino
He's a horse who always runs his best race fresh. He's rated to be sixth but he'll enjoy the track and that will give him a real edge. He just could be an interesting outsider.
Reporting by Lewis Porteous
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