Second in the Oaks last year, Emily Upjohn (11/4) readily accounted for Westover - third in the 2022 Derby - in the Dahlbury Coronation Cup at Epsom.
Held-up last of the five runners Emily Upjohn displayed a fine turn of foot to outspeed her rivals, sweeping past the field in the straight and win with plenty to spare on her seasonal reappearance.
Hurricane Lane and Point Lonsdale shared the running with Westover settled in third and Tunnes on his outside in fourth. Rob Hornby edged Westover out for racing room in the straight and was momentarily impeded by a drifting Point Lonsdale but that made no difference as he was soon left trailing in the wake of Emily Upjohn.
Frankie Dettori made a big move between the three furlong pole and the two furlong pole aboard Emily Upjohn and the filly showed startling acceleration to put the result beyond doubt a long way from home with Dettori allowed the luxury to ease her down before the line.
The winning time was 2.33.78.
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Emily Upjohn lost several lengths at the start when beaten a short-head in the Oaks and Dettori admitted that went through his mind at the start, saying: "When I was in the stalls I was thinking 'please don't sleep today'!
"Everything went wrong in the King George, she was too free, she didn't breathe. The key with her is to get her to switch off. We kept the hood on her after a long discussion, she relaxed beautifully. She's a big girl so I got her ready at the top of the hill and by God did she quicken... wow... she was impressive.
"She kept it up right to the line and myself and Rob (Hornby, jockey of Westover) pulled well clear of the third so that was a great performance.
"She does feel better (than last year), she does feel stronger but it's in her mind you know. She was fighting herself too much last year and is learning to relax a bit more and when she does that she is very good."
Emily Upjohn is trained by John and Thady Gosden and the former added: "She's always had that (speed) and actually she hasn't shown it this spring and that's probably why Frankie moved quite so early and in the end he said 'I get there too soon' and in the end she's looking around. In fairness, she's getting a little tired at the end, she wasn't absolutely, fully 100% because she's had a difficult spring with the weather being so cold and miserable and wet.
"We had done a couple of pieces of work with her and she just wasn't there and we knew we were doing the wrong thing in trying to run her at the end of March (in the Sheema Classic at Meydan) so we backed right off, freshened her up and brought her back again and she's rewarded our common sense and patience.
"We were thinking about a mile and a quarter but we'd very much like to go a mile and a half. We could well go back to a mile and a quarter in a race like the Eclipse (at Sandown), I think that would suit her, there is the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot not too far away but I think more likely the Eclipse. She likes a long straight and she likes meeting the ground, Sandown is a very good track for her.
"She's always had a big frame. She's furnished a little bit but not a lot, to that extent she is the same filly but just slightly on a year. She was pretty good at three. It went all wrong in the King George, it went wrong for Westover, take nothing away from the winner, Pyledriver watched all these people going at each other's throats, sat out the back and knocked us all for six but it was a strange race and she came back in the autumn and showed her class again.
"Epsom is not easy, she got left that day (in the Oaks) and got forced very wide and beaten a nose, that's life but it's nice to come back - and Westover didn't have a perfect trip - but I take nothing from the winners of the Oaks and the Derby last year, they were both exceptionally brilliant colts and fillies. That's racing."
Andrew Lloyd-Webber, who owns the winner alongside Jon Shack and Stuart Roden, said: “That was fantastic and we were very thrilled with it being her first time out this season. It was very good news. No, he (John Gosden) didn’t fill us full of optimism. He was saying as it was her first time out that she really needed the run but John is brilliant is keeping the expectations down. That was fantastic (the move Frankie made to win the race).
“The main thing John was saying was to keep her breathing properly. My tip was I will get her a voice coach before she goes out so she can learn to breath from the diaphragm so clearly this message was passed on by Frankie to Emily and she got her act together!
“I think the main reason that Simon (Marsh, Watership Down Stud general manager) and Madeleine (Lloyd-Webber, wife and joint owner of Watership Down Stud) wanted to have her was they wanted to get a new line of blood into the stud and clearly she is right up there (with the best we have had).
“Nothing will quite really for me beat Too Darn Hot. The thing about Too Darn Hot is that he was written off as he broke his leg when he was only a few days old. Everyone said he would never race but he miraculously healed which was great and the first time I saw him go and win was amazing.”
Hornby offered no excuses for Westover, saying: “It’s a good track for him, climbing for the first six furlongs, and he relaxed beautifully and got into a good position. They weren’t the horses I had in mind to be in front of me, but I was sat in the position I wanted and I was able to stay one off the rail for a clear run into the straight.
“In fairness the winner showed very good acceleration, whereas I was more building through the gears into top gear. He’s a big horse, and he just didn’t have that acceleration like the winner. She was very impressive, and we pulled well clear of the third.”
Aidan O’Brien, trainer of the third-placed Point Lonsdale, said: “He ran very well and we’re very happy with the run. He got left in front maybe and ideally he’d maybe like a stronger pace and someone to lead him a bit longer Ryan (Moore) thought, but he ran very well.
“It will be interesting (to see how that form pans out) and we learned a lot about our horse today. I’m not sure where we’ll see him next, he could be a Hardwicke horse or something like that. He obviously gets a mile and a half but we’ll know a bit more about him the next time.”
Charlie Appleby reported that the ground was too quick for Hurricane Lane.
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