Tuesday, the Aidan O’Brien-trained racehorse, owned by Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Westerberg, just held on to win the Group One Cazoo Oaks on the first day of the Epsom Derby meeting today (3 June). They won by just a short head over second-placed Emily Upjohn, who went off the 6/4 favourite under Frankie Dettori, for trainers John and Thady Gosden.
Ryan Moore said after his Epsom Oaks result: “I always felt I was going to win. Tuesday is still a bit babyish – she came out of the stalls awkwardly and was further back than I wanted to be, but she put herself into the race. She’s got an awful lot of class and it’s amazing that her family keep producing results.”
Tuesday’s Epsom Oaks result came on her third birthday, making her a late foal compared to her fellow competitors, and therefore the result all the more impressive. This win was a record-breaking one too, as it meant Aidan O’Brien the trainer with the most British Classic winners to his name. O’Brien previously shared the record with John Scott, who saddled 40 Classic winners between 1827 and 1863. Aidan has now trained 41 British Classic winners, which includes 10 Oaks victories, 10 2,000 Guineas victories, eight Epsom Derby victories, seven 1,000 Guineas victories and six St Leger victories.
“Aidan is incredible – we always use those terms like ‘genius’ to describe him, but he goes into so much detail and we’ll probably never see another trainer like him again,” said Ryan.
“We are absolutely delighted,” said Aidan O’Brien after the 1m4f race. “She has never run any further than a mile but we thought the trip would suit her. Ryan gave her a lovely ride and I’d just delighted for everyone at home at Ballydoyle and Coolmore.”
Commenting on his new record, Aidan said: “It’s unbelievable to be part of the whole thing and I feel very privileged. Everyone puts in so much work day in and day out and it’s great that they can be rewarded with these results.”
The previously unbeaten and impressive Emily Upjohn didn’t have a good start, which possibly cost her the race under Frankie Dettori.
“She slipped and almost fell over at the start so I found myself last and had to pass the whole field,” a detected Frankie said after the race. “I wish I had the rail but I didn’t. It’s one of those things. She should have won.”
John Gosden, trainer of Emily Upjohn and the third-placed Nashwa (4-1), said: “She was badly left back in last and she had to circle the field.
“They went an even pace but she has just lost it at the start – it is as simple as that.
“She has got a lot of ability to come from last and get there. It was a hell of a run. That is bad luck you can’t get left that far and circle the whole field. It is not her style of racing.”
Hollie Doyle, rider of the third-placed Nashwa, achieved the best finishing position ever for a female rider in a Classic. She said: “I’m disappointed she didn’t win, but I’m not disappointed with her performance at all. She ran a solid race and when she’s stepped back to 10 furlongs there will hopefully be big days ahead. I had a beautiful trip round – she settled well and in the end I was out-stayed.
“I appreciate that it’s the best placing ever by a female rider in a Classic, but it doesn’t make a lot of difference to me. If I could ever win one though it would be amazing.”
2022 Epsom Oaks result: winner’s breeding
Tuesday is bred in the purple; by the prolific Galileo, who is also sire to the likes of Frankel, out of a Danehill Dancer mare called Lillie Langtry, who, as a two-year-old, was one of the best juvenile fillies in Ireland. She won three of her seven races including the Fillies’ Sprint Stakes, Debutante Stakes and Tattersalls Timeform Fillies’ 800 as well as finishing third in both the Albany Stakes and the Moyglare Stud Stakes. In 2010 she recorded her biggest wins when achieving Group One victories in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown. Lillie Langtry clocked almost £900,000 in prize money for the same connections as Tuesday. Lillie Langtry also produced the incredible filly, Minding, who is a full sister to Tuesday, and who is also owned by the same connections as Tuesday.
Minding was the 2016 European Horse of the Year and was among the leading two-year-old fillies of her generation in Europe in 2015 when she won three of her five races including the Moyglare Stud Stakes in Ireland and the Fillies’ Mile in England. On her first appearance of 2016, Minding posted a decisive victory in the classic 1,000 Guineas but was subsequently beaten when favourite for the Irish 1,000 Guineas. She went on to win a second classic in The Oaks in June, the first filly to complete the Guineas-Oaks double since Kazzia in 2002. She went on to take her fifth and sixth Group One races with wins in the Pretty Polly Stakes and the Nassau Stakes. She then defeated male opposition to take the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. At the end of the year she was named Cartier Horse of the Year and the world’s best three-year-old filly. In total, she won £2,327,295 in prize money.
Read the full report from the Derby meeting in the 9 June issue of Horse & Hound magazine.
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