Emily Upjohn getting ready to defend the Coronation Cup

Emily Upjohn, who has shown a preference for Epsom and made a strong comeback thus far this season, is sure to put up a formidable defence of her Holland Cooper Coronation Cup title on Friday.

The mare trained by John and Thady Gosden was the favourite for the Oaks on this card in 2022, but she lost badly on Tuesday, falling short by just a short head after faltering and losing a lot of ground early on.

Under Frankie Dettori, the daughter of Sea The Stars improved her Epsom record in this race a year ago, defeating the sophisticated colt Westover by a comfortable length and three-quarters.

After experiencing mixed results at Sandown and Ascot, she had to overcome a 245-day absence to compete in the Sheema Classic in March. She finished fifth, which is not surprising, so she obviously needed the outing, but everything seems to have gone well since.

John Gosden said: “She worked very nicely last week and I’m pleased with her. It was a very good run I thought earlier in the year in the Sheema Classic, where they played with the pace. I liked the way she finished her race off and she wasn’t beaten far. It’s not easy with fillies in March, training them in the winter, and she’d been off since the previous July, so she needed to get back on track. She ran a lovely race and she’s done well physically since then. This was always the next step for her. We are trying to follow the same sort of path as last year when she went on to Sandown for the Eclipse and was beaten only half a length by Paddington. I don’t know what happened when she ran in the King George after that, but about four of them ran appallingly that day. Take nothing from the winner there, but it was a very strange race.”

Emily Upjohn is expected to be the favourite, followed by the Aidan O'Brien-trained Luxembourg and Pascal Bary's Feed The Flame, who finished fourth in the French Derby the previous year.

In addition to riding Luxembourg, Ryan Moore respects the opponent.