Emily Upjohn (GB)

Saturday's G1 Cairn Community Games Pretty Polly Stakes served up a thriller, with Juddmonte's TDN Rising Star Bluestocking (GB) (Camelot {GB}--Emulous {GB}, by Dansili {GB}) running down Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the final yards for a deserved top-level breakthrough. With abundant rain falling on The Curragh throughout the day, the Ralph Beckett-trained 4-year-old who was herself cruelly denied late in last year's Irish Oaks held the upper hand in terms of ground preference and traded as the 11-10 favourite as a result. Settled in mid-division early...

Bringing genuine star quality to Saturday's G1 Cairn Community Games Pretty Polly Stakes, the Gosdens' Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) makes her belated Curragh debut having missed the 2022 Irish Oaks due to a freak aviation issue. What would have happened had her flight not been cancelled that July we'll never know, but her performance in last year's G1 Coronation Cup tells us she probably would have a Classic on her portfolio. Almost certainly guaranteed to be suited by this fair, galloping track, the 5-year-old may be peaking...

The first entries for the G1 Tattersalls Falmouth S. were released on Tuesday, with 32 fillies and mares in contention for the feature race on the second day of Newmarket's July Festival on Friday, July 12. Joseph O'Brien has the strongest hand numerically with five entries, headed by last year's G2 Duke Of Cambridge S. heroine Rogue Millennium (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who is among the favourites to defend her crown when she returns to Royal Ascot on Wednesday. Aidan O'Brien is responsible for four possible runners, including Opera Singer (Justify),...

Saturday's G1 Derby winner City Of Troy (Justify) and progressive four-year-old Passenger (Ulysses {Ire}) head the betting for the G1 Coral-Eclipse S. after the latest entries were released on Tuesday. A total of 40 horses remain in contention for the first big clash of the generations in the middle-distance division, which will be run at Sandown on Saturday, July 6 and offers total prize-money of £750,000. Golden Horn (GB) in 2015 was the last Derby winner to follow up in the Eclipse and trainer Aidan O'Brien identified this race as...

City Of Troy (Justify) and Arabian Crown (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) head the betting for the G1 Derby after the latest entries were released on Tuesday. Of the 69 set to run in late April, just 41 remain after the latest scratching deadline for the Classic, which will be run at Epsom on Saturday, June 1. A baker's dozen haven been entered by Aidan O'Brien for the Coolmore partners, anchored by City Of Troy, despite his puzzling ninth-place finish in last Saturday's G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas. Last season's G1 Dewhurst S....

Defending G1 Dubai World Cup winner Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) features among 868 individual horses from 19 countries nominated to run at the $30.5-million Dubai World Cup meeting on Saturday, March 30. In total, more than 1,400 entries have been received across the nine races and Ushba Tesoro is one of 200 from Japan as he tries to become only the second dual winner of the $12-million Dubai World Cup (Sponsored by Emirates Airline) after Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) in 2018 and 2019. Incidentally, Thunder Snow also won...

Japan's Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) has been named Horse Of The Year by Timeform--besting G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}) and GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn})--in the inaugural Timeform Awards, it was announced Wednesday. Trained by Tetsuya Kimura, the colt earned a 136 rating in his career finale in the G1 Japan Cup. Equinox, who also stood atop of the Leading Male 3yo/up category, also garnered the Champion Of The Rest Of The World award, ahead of...

You've heard for a while that Saturday's edition of the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO S. is a special one. "Race for the ages" has been bandied about and for good reason given the accumulation of top-class mile-and-a-half horses set for the Ascot joust. What had for so long been starved of a meaningful intergenerational clash and threatened to become a bygone curio has suddenly been dusted off and revived due largely to the presence of the Derby winner. Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is no...

Eleven high-quality runners will make up one of the greatest renewals of the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth II Qipco S. in recent memory on Saturday, with Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) the biggest missing name among them. Saeed Suhail's troubled 2022 Derby hero's leg infection means that the keenly-anticipated clash of the last two Blue Riband winners in the Ascot monument is cruelly denied, while the three other withdrawals disappointingly include the sole French challenger Simca Mille (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), whose chance was put paid to by...

Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who ran a strong second to Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G1 Eclipse S. earlier this month, has emerged from the race in good order and will continue preparing for the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S. on July 29, co-trainer John Gosden confirmed on Thursday. The G1 British Champions Fillies And Mares S. winner, who won the G1 Coronation Cup at Epsom on her seasonal bow, was giving her rival seven pounds on the day. Gosden, who trains with...

Known for some time as "the first clash of the generations", Sandown's G1 Coral-Eclipse proved the absolute epitome of that sentiment on Saturday as Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Ire}--Modern Eagle {Ger}, by Montjeu {Ire}) mastered fellow TDN Rising Star Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) to do it for the Classic crop. Providing Aidan O'Brien with the outright historical record of seven renewals in the process, the heavily-supported 8-11 favourite got a lead from West Wind Blows (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and proceeded to glide through his most demanding examination yet....

Looking at the history of the G1 Coral-Eclipse, it is clear that fillies and mares have had a hard time against the colts in Sandown's jewel. While the illustrious Pebbles (GB) managed to prevail in 1985 and Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) did so three years ago with the lesser-heralded Kooyonga (Ire) victorious in between in 1992, the list of beaten elite stars among the sex is extensive. It includes Time Charter (Ire), Triptych, Indian Skimmer, In The Groove (GB), Bosra Sham, Ouija Board (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), The Fugue (GB)...