By Tom Frary
Nursed back from a deflating heavy defeat in the King George by John and Thady Gosden, TDN Rising Star Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) returned to Ascot's same mile and a half with a flourish to capture Saturday's G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. and complete a Frankie Dettori double on QIPCO British Champions Day.
Keen initially as she had been last time, the newly-hooded bay was restrained to race halfway down the field trapped wide throughout the early stages. Travelling strongly on the turn into the straight, the 3-1 favourite, who was sporting the Lloyd Webber silks, took command passing two out and was soon clear and in control.
At the line, she had three lengths to spare over the 50-1 shot Thunder Kiss (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), with the 80-1 shot Insinuendo (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) a further half-length away in third as the Irish contingent performed with credit.
“It would have been heartbreaking not winning a Group 1 with this filly,” Dettori said. “Nothing went right at Epsom and she ran no race in the King George for whatever reason, but the team have done a great job with her and she had given me the 'wow factor' again in her last pieces of work.”
Prior to her no-show in this track's midsummer showcase, Emily Upjohn had looked one of the better middle-distance fillies of recent times with comparisons to her stable's Taghrooda (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) not out of place. Her slim defeat by Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Oaks came after she had blown the start, having powered to ante-post favouritism in York's G3 Musidora S. at the May Dante meeting and this was her rolling back the clock to that moment.
Pulling too hard in the King George, she looked to be potentially over-racing again in the first two furlongs but those fears were ultimately put to bed as she tanked around the final bend with most of her rivals at work.
“We were all very nervous, but we knew she had it in her,” Lady Lloyd Webber said. “Frankie rode a peach of a race, we're very lucky to have him.”
John Gosden added, “I will never work out the King George as long as I live. The whole team have done a great job to get her confidence back, that's the thing as when you run a race like that and finish a distance last you're going to be a little shaken mentally. She is a big girl and hasn't fully strengthened in her frame. She is still quite light and I thought 'will she handle the ground?', but she's handled it well. Mind you, she was so wide she was probably on fresh ground. She stays in training and the aims next year will be the King George and the Arc.”
Shane Lyons said of Thunder Kiss, “She has been retired now, so her last run was her best run. The conditions suited her–ease in the ground, a mile and a half and a good pace. I thought she'd be in the mix somewhere, because these type of races suit her. The better the race, the better she runs. Maybe we should have run her in more Group 1 races, but anyway she has been a star for us, very consistent.”
Insinuendo's rider Gary Carroll said, “I had a lovely position–I had Frankie on my outside and he stole first run on me and his filly was the better on the day, but my filly ran her heart out. We are delighted.”
Pedigree Notes
Emily Upjohn, who was snapped up by Blandford Bloodstock for a remarkable 60,000gns at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 2, is a granddaughter of The Aga Khan's Hazaradjat (Ire) (Darshaan (GB) who boasts an abundance of top-class descendants. Her progeny list is headed by Hazarista (Ire), a full-sister to Emily Upjohn's listed-placed dam Hidden Brief (GB) (Barathea {Ire}) who captured the G3 Blue Wind S. and was third in the G1 Irish Oaks and G1 Yorkshire Oaks. Her G3 Athasi S.-winning half-sister Hazariya (Ire) (Xaar {GB}) was the other black-type scorer out of Hazaradjat and she provided her owner-breeder with the Derby and Irish Derby hero Harzand (Ire) by Emily Upjohn's sire Sea The Stars, as well as three other notables including including the G1 Moyglare Stud S. third Harasiya (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and the Listed Finale S. winner Hazarafa (Ire) (Daylami {Ire}) who in turn produced the G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial and G3 Amethyst S. scorer Hazapour (Ire) (Shamardal).
Emily Upjohn becomes the second QIPCO British Champions Day winner for the family after the G1 Fillies & Mares S. heroine Seal of Approval (GB) (Authorized {Ire}), a half to the dam of last year's G1 Irish Derby, G1 St Leger S. and G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). Also related to the group scorers Hunaina (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), Swashbuckling (Ire) (Raven's Pass), Vadream (GB) (Brazen Beau {Aus}) and Hamariyna (Ire) by Sea The Stars's son Sea The Moon (Ger), Hidden Brief's yearling daughter of Cappella Sansevero (GB) is named Hidden Jewel (Ire).
Saturday, Ascot, Britain
QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS FILLIES & MARES S.-G1, £500,000, Ascot, 10-15, 3yo/up, f/m, 11f 211yT, 2:33.76, g/s.
1–EMILY UPJOHN (GB), 127, f, 3, by Sea The Stars (Ire)
1st Dam: Hidden Brief (GB) (SP-Fr), by Barathea (Ire)
2nd Dam: Hazaradjat (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
3rd Dam: Hazy Idea, by Hethersett (GB)
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. 'TDN Rising Star'. (60,000gns Ylg '20
TATOCT). O-Lloyd Webber, Tactful Finance, S Roden;
B-Lordship Stud & Sunderland Holding Inc (GB); T-John &
Thady Gosden; J-Frankie Dettori. £283,550. Lifetime Record:
6-4-1-0, $586,117. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Thunder Kiss (Ire), 133, m, 5, Night Of Thunder (Ire)–Desert
Snow (GB) (MSP-Eng), by Teofilo (Ire). O-Newtown Anner Stud
Farm; B-Newtown Anner Stud (IRE); T-Ger Lyons. £107,500.
3–Insinuendo (Ire), 133, m, 5, Gleneagles (Ire)–Obama Rule
(Ire) (GSW-Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK
TYPE. (€110,000 Ylg '18 GOFOR). O-Deegan Racing Syndicate;
B-Mount Armstrong Stud. (IRE); T-Willie McCreery. £53,800.
Margins: 3, HF, HF. Odds: 3.00, 50.00, 80.00.
Also Ran: Eshaada (GB), Rosscarbery (Ger), Emily Dickinson (Ire), Lilac Road (Ire), Albaflora (GB), Verry Elleegant (NZ), Sea La Rosa (Ire), Sweet Lady (Fr), Mimikyu (GB), Eternal Pearl (GB), Stay Alert (GB). VIDEO.
Two for @FrankieDettori on Champions Day! Emily Upjohn shines in the Group 1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes for the Gosdens at @Ascot pic.twitter.com/uvI5UgJVY8
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 15, 2022
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