Another Magnificent Seven for Dettori?
Anyone hoping for a close finish in the Epsom Oaks was hugely disappointed last year. Snowfall won by 16 lengths with Frankie Dettori having little to do to ensure victory. Could the jockey be in for another win this year?
Dettori has won the Oaks on six occasions and three times in the past five years. The record number of Oaks wins is nine by Frank Buckle. That was achieved in the 18th and 19th centuries! Dettori may struggle to equal that record but at 51 years of age, he could win a seventh on June 3.
His mount for the race is Emily Upjohn who heads the betting market with less than a fortnight to the Oaks. You can get +110 with current bet offers on the John and Thady Gosden trained three-year-old. Those odds have shortened considerably since the contender went to York and won the Musidora Stakes in fine style.
Emily Upjohn began her racing career last November on the all-weather at Wolverhampton. That was a class 5 race, and a win was not expected by the punters. The debutant went off at what proved to be very generous odds of +1200.
Like many debutants, a good start was not made by Emily Upjohn. The filly dwelt at the start and then took a firm hold. A win didn’t look likely when being pushed along a furlong from the finish. However, jockey Robert Holvin rode a strong finish and the two-year-old won her first race by a neck from Secret Image who had won in a slightly higher class.
At that point, Emily Upjohn wasn’t really being talked about as a future Oaks winner. Her first run as a three-year-old was at Sandown on April 22 with Frankie Dettori now in the saddle. There had been no run in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Sandown race was only a class 4 event.
A much better performance was put in this time with no slow start taking place. Emily Upjohn went clear with two furlongs to go and won the race by nine and a half lengths, justifying the odds of 5/4. It was clear that a big step up in class would be in line for the Gosdens runner.
That happened at York with the three-year-old running in the Group 3 Musidora Stakes at York on May 11. The race was won by future Oaks winner Snowfall last year, so it’s a good guide to how a runner might get on at Epsom the following month.
Emily Upjohn was strongly fancied to win the Musidora with odds of -175. The filly started well but did take a firm hold again. There was a bit of drifting to the right but once Emily Upjohn went clear a furlong out, there was no catching her. The winning distance was five and a half lengths.
That race was over a mile and two furlongs, and the Oaks is a mile and a half. It looks certain that the runner will be able to see out the distance. The extra two furlongs might even bring out more improvement.
There’s tough opposition from fillies such as another Gosdens runner, Nashwa (+600), With the Moonlight (+800), and Concert Hall (+100), but Frankie Dettori knows a good filly when he sees one. A seventh Oaks victory for the Italian jockey looks very much on the cards on June 3.
(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)
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