Immortal Verse takes the Coronation for France

A delighted Gerald Mosse passes the winning post clear of his rivals on Immortal Verse in the Coronation Stakes. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

It was a father and son affair and a big race triumph for France at Royal Ascot today as Immortal Verse, trained by Robert Collet, beat Nova Hawk, trained by his son Rod, in the Coronation Stakes.

Race three in the QIPCO British Champions Series Fillies & Mares programme saw a number of fillies take part that had competed in the first leg, the QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, a race in which Immortal Verse refused to enter the starting stalls.

She then ran poorly in the French equivalent of the 1000 Guineas, but made up for those disappointments in the manner of a very talented filly this afternoon, quickening smartly from off the pace to draw clear inside the final furlong and win by two and a quarter lengths.

Speaking through a translator, the winning trainer said: "This filly is the best filly I have trained.

"At Newmarket she had a blind on to go into the stalls but there was a lot of wind and it irritated her.

"In the French Guineas things didn’t go to plan, so we forgot about that.

"You have to be really stubborn to come back and prove that you have a Group 1 filly.

"Her biggest asset is her turn of foot."

The successful jockey, Gerald Mosse, said: "I believe the pace was good enough on that ground, but it wasn’t too fast.

"She was a bit keen, so I decided to drop her behind to help her relax.

"When I started to pull her out she reacted quicker than I expected and we got there too soon.

"It’s the first time I’ve been on board and I knew she’d react, but not that fast.

"I had the race won with 500 metres to go.

"The last good filly I rode was Gold Splash who won the Coronation many years ago (1993) but this filly has a fantastic turn of foot. Only top horses can do that."

To see the full race result, click here.