Coronation Cup Tips: Emily Looks A Class Apart
A small but select field of five will contest the 2024 Coronation Cup, and while there is much conjecture over the race's future after yet another small field was declared for the Group 1, what cannot be disputed is that this year's race is an intriguing contest. Billy Grimshaw provides his thoughts and comes down on the side of the favourite...
EMILY UPJOHN should win the Coronation Cup for the second year running. She is the highest rated horse in this field even discounting the allowance she'll get from the boys and while it is always a risk keeping the faith with fillies and mares the longer in the tooth they get, she has shown a real liking for this track in the past and on her days is a devastating performer.
The team have confirmed that this season is all about an Arc bid for the five year old, and although she is not known to love it when the mud is flying she can handle soft - which is looking likely for Friday if Thursday's wet forecast at Epsom is to be believed.
It is easy to forget how well she ran last year when reappearing here, but beating Westover with the ease she did was no mean feat and indeed her performance next time out, pushing Paddington all the way in the Eclipse, was another performance that nothing else in this field can match.
Her nearest market rival is Luxembourg for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore, a likeable horse but now pretty much exposed as not quite being of the highest class. This may be a touch harsh as he is a four time Group 1 winner, but he flopped last time out and does throw in stinkers a few times too often for my liking. He also has never been to Epsom and doesn't look the best suited to the unique test the Downs throw up.
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If having a bet other than simply backing Emily Upjohn to win, it'll be taking on Luxembourg as I think there is a real chance he comes in last place considering the talent of the three other runners I am yet to mention.
Starting with Pascal Bary's French raider Feed The Flame seems the logical thing to do given he is third favourite at the time of writing and the fact he travels over for this Group 1 when the Group 2 Grand Prix de Chantilly looked at his mercy on home soil. He is a KIngman colt and has shown himself trip versatile, but after winning emphatically at three in the Grand Prix de Paris, the step back in trip last time out perhaps caught him out a touch as he was a close third.
Back up in distance looks what he wants and that's what he'll get at Epsom, so while this is his British debut and he could end up bamboozled by the undulations, I'd rather back him than Luxembourg.
If the rain falls he'll relish that too, as will the old boy Hamish for William Haggas. He is such a likeable eight year old and seems better than ever right now, winning his last four. He is yet to taste Group 1 glory, however, and one suspects it'll take a deluge or an Emily Upjohn no-show for him to win. Finally we have the other mare in the field Time Lock, who could still be improving for Harry Charlton at five but will have to take a huge step forward to trouble the market leaders.
Overall I can't see a reason other than her own constitution that Emily Upjohn doesn't win here and the more I look at the race, the more I like her price. Anything around evens is a great bet.