Ervedya swoops to take pulsating Coronation Stakes

Ervedya gets up late to claim Found in the Coronation Stakes (image: Racingfotos.com)

It was a race in which the cream rose to the top, as Ervedya, Found and Lucida, Timeform’s three top-rated fillies before the race (in that order) were separated by less than a length.

How they got there created a sense of real drama and a grandstand finish. The well-backed 13/8 favourite Found, under man-of-the-week Ryan Moore, was never too far away, while Ervedya and Lucida sat further back, the last-named proving difficult to settle in the early stages.

Arabian Queen would lead them into the straight, at which stage the main players were all still travelling well. While others scrambled for position early in the straight, Christophe Soumillon was happy to keep Ervedya behind other horses, preserving all the energy he could. It turned out he would need every ounce.

Found hit the front a furlong out and briefly looked to have given them the slip under Moore. However, the split appeared at the right time for Soumillon on Ervedya as Sperry edged slightly left. Trusting the same turn of foot his mount had shown to win the Pouliches, Soumillon drove for the finish and wore down Found and Moore in the final 30 yards. Lucida also stayed on as the three came a little clear of the rest, albeit from further back than the winner.

Ervedya was gaining her revenge on Found, who’d beaten her in the Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc day last year. A strapping filly, Ervedya is expected to keep ahead of Found- should they meet again. The first three will probably all have the option of stepping up in trip at some point this season.

it sound as though Ervedya may have to wait before she steps up in trip. After the race, trainer Jean-Claude Rouget said "It was a big dream to come and win a Group 1 here. She’s the best, mentally she is fantastic and that makes her the best. She could go for the Prix Rothschild."

Soumillon was equally generous with his praise: "I was lucky I got a gap in the middle… It’s not an easy track to handle and we were not sure she would, but now we know."

"She goes on any ground, any distance, any course – she is perfect and has a lovely temperament."

Lucida is reportedly likely to also stick to a mile, while Aidan O’Brien said it had "always been the plan" to give Found a break after three runs and step her up in trip. That could prove significant, as she holds entries in the Pretty Polly, Eclipse, Irish Oaks and Falmouth over the next month or so.