Tag: Coronation Cup

Opera Singer Heads Oaks Entries; Stellar Selection for Coronation Cup

Fifty-eight entries for the Betfred Oaks on May 31 have been revealed, led by last season's champion juvenile filly Opera Singer (Justify). The G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner remains the market leader despite the recent announcement by her trainer Aidan O'Brien that she may miss the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket following a minor setback in training. 

Her stable-mate Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}) is also among the 13 fillies to have been entered from Ballydoyle. Irish trainers Noel Meade, Jim Bolger and Dermot Weld have one entry apiece while Paddy Twomey has entered Purple Lily (Ire) (Calyx {GB}) and One Look (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}).

Ralph Beckett has the strongest representation among the British-based trainers with nine fillies engaged at this stage. These include the maiden winner Treasure (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), owned by the King and Queen. 

Britain's champion training partnership of John and Thady Gosden, which won last year's Oaks with Lady Bamford's Soul Sister (Ire), has five entries, including Cheveley Park Stud's Regal Jubilee (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who is currently third-favourite for the fillies' Classic. 

Making Dreams (GB) (Make Believe {GB}), the winner of Monday's G3 Prix Penelope at Saint-Cloud, is one of four entries for Karl Burke. She races in the colours of Nick Bradley Racing, the syndicate which fielded the 2021 Oaks runner-up Mystery Angel (Ire).

The sole French entry for the race is the Group 3-placed Dare To Dream (Fr) (Camelot {GB}), who is trained by Chantilly-based Irishman Gavin Hernon. 

Friday's card for the Betfred Derby meeting includes the G1 Coronation Cup, which could see a rematch between the first two home in last year's Derby, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

The reigning Coronation Cup champion Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is also among the 23 entries, which include the St Leger winner Continuous (Ire) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) and German Horse of the Year Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}).

 

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Unified Alliance ‘Rains’ In Off-Turf Coronation Cup

Trainer Tom Morley admitted that he was doing a bit of a rain dance Thursday, and his prayers were answered when Friday's Coronation Cup was washed onto the Saratoga main track. Scratched down to a field of just four sophomore fillies, Unified Alliance (Unified) took full advantage while making her first start for Morley and the in-form Javier Castellano.

Nicely into stride from gate three, the dark bay filly had early company to her inside in the form of Anna's Arabesque (Munnings), as odds-on L Street Lady (Munnings)–the lone main-track-only entrant–chased that pair from third. Unified Alliance cut the corner into the stretch and kept finding up front en route to an ultimately comfortable first black-type success.

Unified Alliance made the first six starts of her career for John Servis, winning her maiden at first asking at Parx last December before adding a romping 10 1/4-length allowance score in Bensalem Apr. 3. A distant last of four in the rained-off Memories of Silver S. at Aqueduct Apr. 29, she led into the final furlong of the June 11 Jersey Girl S. at Belmont, but was outfinished by L Street Lady and settled for second.

“We were sitting at the table with claps of thunder and bolts of lightning [last night], and I said, 'I could really do with this going on for four more hours just to really knock it on the head,'” the winning trainer said. “It didn't last four hours, but we got enough [rain]. She actually worked really, really well on the grass at Belmont, so we were definitely going to roll the dice and see if she could [run on] turf today, but obviously it cut up into an easier race when it came off.”

The fourth stakes winner for her Lane's End-based sire (by Candy Ride {Arg}), Unified Alliance is the only of her dam's foals to race and hails from the female family of GISW A. P. Adventure (A.P. Indy). Star Power did not produce a foal in any of the last three years and was bred to McKinzie this season. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

CORONATION CUP S., $139,500, Saratoga, 7-14, 3yo, f, 5 1/2f (off turf), 1:03.80, ft.
1–UNIFIED ALLIANCE, 120, f, 3, by Unified
1st Dam: Star Power, by Speightstown
2nd Dam: Sequel, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Nataliano, by Fappiano
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. ($170,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP; $60,000 2yo '22 EASMAY). O-Reagan Jack Racing; B-Calvin & Shane Crain (KY); T-Thomas Morley; J-Javier Castellano. $82,500. Lifetime Record: 7-3-2-1, $193,500.
2–Anna's Arabesque, 118, f, 3, Munnings–Classy Music, by Maclean's Music. ($220,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Rigney Racing, LLC; B-Patrick Waresk (KY); T-Philip A Bauer. $30,000.
3–L Street Lady, 122, f, 3, Munnings–Lady Gayle, by Scat Daddy. ($125,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL). O-Madaket Stables LLC; B-T & G Farm of Kentucky LLC (KY); T-Brittany T Russell. $18,000.
Margins: 1HF, 6 3/4, 5 3/4. Odds: 2.75, 2.25, 0.95.
Also Ran: Wildhawk. Scratched: Bosserati, Love Appeals, Love Reigns (Ire), My Sweet Affair, Violet Gibson (Ire).

 

 

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Epsom Names Race in Memory of Lester Piggott

Epsom Downs Racecourse has announced the introduction of the Lester Piggott Handicap S. on Derby Day, to be run in memory of the legendary jockey who died a year ago at the age of 86. Frankie Dettori will lay a wreath at Piggott's commemorative statue on Saturday.

“It is an honour to be asked to lay a wreath at Lester's statue on Derby Day,” Dettori said. “He was a hero of mine who then became a good friend and it's impossible to measure the impact he had on me, both as a person and a jockey throughout my life. I'm sure it will be a poignant and emotional moment for many reasons and I'm grateful to Epsom Downs for inviting me to lead this year's tributes to Lester on my last Derby Day as a jockey.”

Piggott rode in the Derby 36 times between 1951 and 1994 and won nine times, starting with Never Say Die in 1954 and followed by Crepello (1957), St Paddy (1960), Sir Ivor (1968), Nijinsky (1970), Roberto (1972), Empery (1976), The Minstrel (1977) and Teenoso (1983). Nicknamed 'The Long Fellow', Piggott also won the Oaks six times and the Coronation Cup on nine occasions.

“For so many of us, Lester Piggott is synonymous with the Derby and Epsom Downs like no other jockey before or since,” said Brian Finch, Chair of Epsom Downs Racecourse. “Lester sadly passed away just six days before the Derby in 2022 and we ran the Derby in his memory. For such a distinguished figure in the long history of the Derby, and with his unprecedented achievements unlikely to be matched, we felt it was important to establish a permanent annual commemoration and celebration of Lester's life on Derby Day.”

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Mural Honouring Dettori Unveiled at Epsom

A giant mural celebrating champion jockey Frankie Dettori's remarkable 40-year career was unveiled by Epsom Downs Racecourse on Tuesday. The 52ft by 23ft art installation is located on the side of the Duchess Stand and depicts him in the colours of his 2015 G1 Derby winner Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}).

“It was a big surprise,” Dettori said. “I was quite embarrassed when I first saw it, actually. I love it. It is amazing, I'm gobsmacked, really. It's the young me and the older me. It was my biggest thrill in my racing career, the Derby in 2015 on Golden Horn. I'm glad it is there forever now. It looks great.”

Dettori has enjoyed some of his most memorable moments at Epsom Downs over the years, earning two Derby victories with Authorized (Ire) in 2007 and Golden Horn in 2015. The 52-year-old announced at the end of last year that 2023 would be his last season in the saddle.

“I have mixed feelings,” Dettori said. “It's the end of an era, and it's nice to be recognised with something as big as this. Epsom is a special place for me. I've had some great memories, lots of nice winners–two Derby wins, five Coronations, five Oaks. It's been a good stamping ground for me. [Winning another Derby} would be amazing. I haven't got a ride yet, but it will be amazing.”

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