Shadow of Light made the lead in the 2000 Guineas last month at Newmarket with about a furlong of the one-mile race remaining. He could not hold it, slipping back to third, and that is why Shadow of Light, instead of racing Tuesday at Royal Ascot in the one-mile St. James’s Palace Stakes, cuts back to six furlongs Friday for the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup. The Commonwealth drew a field of 22 3-year-olds, a dozen colts and 10 fillies who get three pounds from their male rivals. Among the fillies is crack American turf sprinter Shisospicy, one of two U.S.-based runners on the card along with the 2-year-old Bibi Dahl, a longshot in the Albany. The Commonwealth shares top billing Friday with the Group 1 Coronation Stakes, a one-turn mile for 3-year-old fillies. Both Group 1s are worth a little less than $1 million, and bettors play them as part of the World Pool, a massive global betting pool that all but eliminates late odds drops too often encountered in American parimutuel wagering. Shadow of Light is a Godolphin homebred, and while Godolphin won the Wednesday feature, the Prince of Wales’s, with Ombudsman, that horse is trained by John and Thady Gosden, a rare high-level England-based Godolphin runner who doesn’t reside at Moulton Paddocks with Charlie Appleby. Shadow of Light does, and Appleby believes the colt will handle a straight six furlongs even better than the straight mile last out at Newmarket. :: Royal Ascot 2025: Get PPs, previews, analysis, recaps, and more “He ran a great race in the 2000 Guineas, and we are confident that the drop back to six furlongs is going to suit,” Appleby said, quoted on Godolphin’s website. Shadow of Light did run very well in the Guineas. Held up near the rear of the field for more than half the race, Shadow of Light unleashed a powerful burst that propelled him to the lead before losing momentum through the uphill finish, coming home neck and neck with runner-up Field of Gold as the Appleby-trained Ruling Court scored by a half-length. Field of Gold since has emerged as a star miler, easily winning the Irish 2000 Guineas and the St. James’s Palace, where Ruling Court was a tough-trip third. Shadow of Light proved a crack sprinter at age 2, winning a pair of Group 1s, with his victory in the six-furlong Middle Park flashier than his tally in the seven-furlong Dewhurst. Juddmonte has two live chances. The Andrew Balding-trained Jonquil cuts back from one mile after a fine second-place finish in the French 2000 Guineas, while Babouche, trained by Ger Lyons, has nothing but sprint form. Last out, at Naas in Ireland, he beat the good colt Whistlejacket by almost three lengths. Whistlejacket wears the silks of Peter Brant in the Commonwealth and gets the services of Ryan Moore, while his Aidan O’Brien-trained stablemate Ides of March will be ridden by Wayne Lordan. Shisospicy, trained by Jose D’Angelo with Oisin Murphy to ride, might not be overmatched. She’s 3 for 3 on turf and hit a peak May 10 in the Mamzelle at Churchill Downs, where she won by 4 1/4 lengths over Kilwin, who came back with a strong win of her own last weekend in the Leslie’s Lady Stakes. The betting markets – probably correctly – suggest Falakeyah and Zarigana rate meaningfully higher than any of the other nine Coronation fillies. Falakeyah, a Shadwell homebred trained by Owen Burrows, makes her group stakes debut after two starts, one last fall and the other last month, produced smashing wins. The first of her races came on an all-weather surface, the more recent over 1 1/4 miles. But Falakeyah does have questions to answer. Zarigana is, without question, the more proven filly, a four-time winner from five starts, though she required a disqualification to be put up last out in the French 1000 Guineas. Rather than stretch her to 1 5/16 miles in the French Oaks, trainer Francis-Henri Graffard elects to keep Zarigana at one mile – and probably will be rewarded for that choice. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.