Time For Sandals pulls off Commonwealth Cup shock

Harry Eustace’s fine Royal Ascot continued when Time For Sandals blazed her way to Commonwealth Cup glory.

The Newmarket handler struck for the very first time in Group One company with Docklands in the Queen Anne Stakes and wasted little time doubling that tally with a filly who was registering just her second career victory – and first since her debut last year.

Sent off at 25-1 in the hands of Richard Kingscote, she cruised to the front on the far side with a furlong to run and showed great resolve to edge out Arizona Blaze by a neck with the supplemented Rayevka half a length further back in third.

“It’s the first time she’s had a fast horse to follow, I don’t want to say (we were) very confident, but we felt like we hadn’t seen the best from her for one reason or another,” said Eustace.

“The voice is in dire straits, I can assure you of that! She’s always shaped to be pretty good and at home we felt we had excuses for her; she never ran a bad one, she was always right there but hadn’t quite put it all together.

“We were always confident in a race like this where there would be fast horses taking her along, that’s really what she needed; don’t get me wrong, we didn’t dream that we’d get here, but she was always pretty good.”

He added: “It’s been extraordinary (the meeting), but that’s the team at home, it’s all the little things all the way through and I can’t thank them enough. The owners will be in there, they’re relatively new, this is the second ever horse they’ve had and they’re pretty lucky people.”

Kingscote – who won the Derby for Sir Michael Stoute on Desert Crown in 2022 – said: “I’ve had nice horses to ride since Sir Michael retired, it was always going to be a year of building back up, I had a nice bit of support and I’m delighted to get on a filly like her.

“Last year she was a very unlucky placed horse in the Super Sprint and she progressed all the way through. She was unlucky last time I felt.

“She did a spectacular piece of work a couple of weeks ago at Newmarket and I’m delighted to ride Harry a big winner because he’s a gentleman and his yard is such a happy yard.

“I’m delighted, he’s a lovely man and his staff are always so positive and happy so it’s great to get them a nice winner. He’s only just trained his 100th winner, so I’d say two Group Ones at Royal Ascot is pretty special to him.”

Arizona Blaze may have been 28-1, but did not surprise trainer Adrian Murray with his huge performance, with the Irish handler now eyeing a tilt at York’s Nunthorpe Stakes later in the summer.

“Big run, but he never runs a bad race. He always turns up on the day so I’m delighted with him,” said Murray.

“He’s very reliable. When he came home the last day he was a bit flat within himself, so he probably was a bit under the weather when he ran, we put that behind us and we were very confident of a good run.

“It was a huge price, I couldn’t believe it!

“I think we’ll go for the Nunthorpe, he’s in the July Cup as well but I think we’ll look at York.”