Connections of Oaks contenders have their say

Emily Upjohn and Nashwa give John Gosden a formidable hand in his bid for a fourth victory in the Cazoo Oaks at Epsom on Friday.

It took the Clarehaven handler until 2014 to break his duck in the fillies' Classic, with subsequent King George scorer Taghrooda striking gold for the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum.

Three years later it was the turn of the remarkable Enable, who came through a thunderstorm to register the first of her 11 Group One wins, while Anapurna made it a hat-trick in 2019.

The red-hot favourite for this year’s renewal is Emily Upjohn, who was a dominant winner of the Musidora Stakes at York and is all the rage to stretch her unbeaten record to four on the Surrey Downs.

"Emily Upjohn is not a filly who raced a lot at two as she only had the one run at Wolverhampton, but you can see by the size of the frame of her why we were patient," said Gosden, who now trains in partnership with son Thady.

"I would hope she has got the speed for the Oaks as she has shown an ability to quicken. The other day in the Musidora she quickened well there at York.

"She did it well at Wolverhampton and at Sandown she sat very handy, then lengthened off the front. She has a change of gear."

While stopping short of comparing Emily Upjohn to his dual Arc heroine Enable, Gosden feels the Sea The Stars filly is at least on a par with his first Oaks winner.

He added: "I think she is in the Taghrooda league. It would be silly to start talking about Enable as that would be completely over the top.

"It is her ability to travel and quicken over a trip that reminds me of Taghrooda."

Emily Upjohn will be ridden by Frankie Dettori, who sealed his sixth Oaks success aboard the brilliant Snowfall 12 months ago and has high hopes of adding to his