Breeders' Cup Turf: Gosden keeping Emily Upjohn at her best distance
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DEL MAR, Calif. - As a two-time Group 1 winner, Emily Upjohn fits in the Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar on Saturday.
The race choice for Emily Upjohn is more of a surprise.
A 5-year-old, Emily Upjohn will start against males in the BC Turf at 1 1/2 miles and not in the BC Filly and Mare Turf at 1 3/8 miles. Trainer John Gosden said the longer race was the difference maker.
“She wants a mile and a half,” Gosden said on Wednesday morning. “It is her best distance.”
A winner of 5 of 15 starts, Emily Upjohn won consecutive starts in Group 1 races at 1 1/2 miles in the British Champions Fillies and Mare Stakes at Ascot in October 2022 and the Coronation Cup at Epsom Racecourse in June 2023.
The problem is Emily Upjohn is winless in her last eight starts, but has not been beaten far in her last two races.
In the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks at 1 1/2 miles on good-to-firm turf at York Racecourse on Aug. 22, Emily Upjohn was beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Content, who starts in the Filly and Mare Turf.
In the Group 1 Prix Vermeille on soft turf at Longchamp in Paris on Sept. 15, Emily Upjohn was beaten 1 1/4 lengths by Bluestocking, who won the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe against males on Oct. 6.
Gosden said Emily Upjohn “will like” the firm turf at Del Mar and the seven-furlong configuration of the turf course.
“It’s tight enough and has a short straight,” he said. “She’s capable of handling a track like that.”
Gosden, 73, was part of the first Breeders’ Cup at Hollywood Park in 1984 when he had a stable based in California. Gosden won the 2018 BC Turf at Churchill Downs with the 4-year-old filly Enable. The most recent filly or mare to win the BC Turf was Tarnawa at Keeneland in 2020 for Irish trainer Dermot Weld.
Emily Upjohn, who races for the Watership Down Stud of the famous composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jonathan Shack’s Tactful Finance, will be ridden by Frankie Dettori, who was aboard for the Group 1 wins in 2022 and 2023.
The BC Turf drew a field of 13, including 2022 winner Rebel’s Romance, the expected favorite; the two-time New York Grade 1 winner Far Bridge; and Shahryar, a Japanese shipper who was third in the 2023 running at Santa Anita.
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Emily Upjohn, who has her American debut on Saturday, drew post 2, which Gosden argues could work in favor of a mare who typically runs near the leaders.
“She has a decent draw and we have to capitalize on that,” he said.
If the pace is slow, Emily Upjohn “can be handy,” he said. If they’re going a good pace, she can settle. She’s very pliable that way.”
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