'It was a hell of a run' - Emily Upjohn new Arc favourite after heroic effort

A new Arc favourite, ladies and gentleman.

You don't see many horses propelled to the top of the market for Europe's supreme championship after being beaten, I suspect we haven't seen any in fact, but you don't often see a display in defeat like the one Emily Upjohn produced at Epsom in the Oaks. She went 3-0 down in the opening minute and still almost won the match. It was heroic stuff.

A stride after leaving the stalls Emily Upjohn "lost her footing, slipped and almost came down" Frankie Dettori reported afterwards. He somehow managed to keep the partnership intact and he somehow managed to almost win his seventh Oaks as well. A stride before the line she was definitely in front and she was back in front a stride after it too but, where it mattered, she wasn't.

Emily Upjohn's unfortunate start

Emily Upjohn (circled) stumbles badly at the start, immediately handing an advantage to her rivalsCredit: Racing TV

Frankie Dettori has to station Emily Upjohn at the rear of the field, a long way off the front-runnersCredit: Racing TV

Despite storming through the field, Emily Upjohn can't quite pip Tuesday on the lineCredit: RacingTV

Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats might not have liked Mondays, Dettori and the Gosdens definitely don't like Tuesdays now.

"She's got a lot of ability to come from last and to get there, I must say. It was a hell of a run," said John Gosden in the immediate aftermath.

"It was just bad luck, you know. You can't spot a field that amount of ground and then have to circle the whole field. That's not her style of racing, the plan was to sit third or fourth. That was the plan but the plan went out of the window at the start. I think if she'd got a clean break and not slipped and lost her legs, there might have been a different result, but that's horseracing."

'Why second-guess him?' - the key lessons from Epsom on Cazoo Oaks day

I think most people would agree. Emily Upjohn will go down as one of the unluckiest losers of the Classic since its inaugural running in 1779.

That should not take anything from the winner of the race, though. Tuesday chose to celebrate her third birthday in the most fitting fashion and it is worth stating she came from a long way back too and was out on her own up the middle of the track for much of the home straight.

She is a star, as Aidan O'Brien has implied time and time again when asked about her. The rematch with Emily Upjohn will be a showdown to savour, wherever that may be – perhaps at the Curragh in the Irish Oaks.

Hukum and Jim Crowley have the Coronation Cup in safe keepingCredit: Edward Whitaker

Earlier on the card, Hukum helped Jim Crowley banish the demons of last year’s Coronation Cup. Al Aasy traded at the minimum price of 1.01 on Betfair 12 months ago but despite Crowley's urgings didn’t particularly fancy going past Pyledriver. This time, in the same colours of Shadwell, the outcome was never in doubt throughout the final furlong as winning trainer Owen Burrows bagged his first Group 1.

Crowley said: “I love this horse, he’s just so solid and consistent, and it’s lovely for him to get a Group 1. What a difference a year makes! I got a lot of stick last year, but I had a much more willing partner this year.”

Hukum, a brother to Baaeed, was cut to 16-1 for the Arc by Ladbrokes afterwards but it was Emily Upjohn who ended Oaks day as Longchamp favourite at 6-1 despite not even winning the Friday feature. Seldom has a reputation soared so high in defeat.

Friday at Epsom:

Tuesday gives Aidan O'Brien record-breaking 41st British Classic in thriller

Peerless O'Brien out on his own in Classic lists after Tuesday strikes in Oaks

Hukum seals 'wonderful' first Group 1 for Owen Burrows in Coronation Cup

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