Supplementary entry Emily Upjohn possibly the key to an intriguing Qatar Nassau Stakes

The supplementary entry of Emily Upjohn to Thursday’s £600,000 Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood has added another layer to an already intriguing race featuring Classic winners Elmalka and Sparkling Plenty and Coronation Stakes runner-up Opera Singer.

Last time out Emily Upjohn came agonisingly close to adding the Curragh’s Pretty Polly Stakes to her previous Group 1 wins in the Yorkshire Oaks, the QIPCO British Champions Fillies And Mares Stakes and the Coronation Cup.

However, after quickening into a three-length lead with only a furlong to go she was run down close home by Bluestocking and beaten half a length, with Lumiere Rock fourth and Stay Alert fifth.

It was a frustrating defeat, not least for jockey Kieran Shoemark who is still awaiting his first Group 1 success in what has proved a slow first season with John and Thady Gosden, but there were no recriminations and the form received a boost when the winner was second in Saturday’s King George. Emily John has shown she can produce a telling turn of foot at both a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half, and the drying ground at Goodwood this week is a big plus.

Explaining the change of heart and Emily Upjohn’s late entry, which cost £40,000, John Gosden said: “She wasn’t entered originally because the plan was to go for the Pretty Polly and then maybe go on to Ascot for the King George, but we decided after the Curragh to stay at a mile and a quarter and go against the fillies again, then step her back up to a mile and a half again in the Yorkshire Oaks.”

Of the slower than usual start to the season Gosden said that the cold, wet spring had not been kind to his fillies, among whom the three-year-olds were not of the quality he would have hoped for, and that consequently it had “not been easy” for Shoemark, who in any case had big boots to fill following Frankie Dettori’s departure.

Funny Soul’s front-running Group 3 win at Ascot on Saturday was a welcome boost both for Shoemark and the stable and the trainer was in positive mood afterwards about the second half of the year, and about Emily Upjohn in particular.

Gosden, responsible for four winners of the Nassau in his own name as well as Nashwa under the joint licence in 2022, said: “Emily Upjohn is in good form. She’s a top-of-the-ground filly and she ran a great race at the Curragh, but that rain came and she’s not happy on it. She’s won on it, but it’s not her best surface. All being well she’ll run a big one.”

O’ Brien hopes to get the right tune from Opera Singer

Opera Singer steps up to a mile and a quarter for the first time after going down by a length to the 1000 Guineas runner-up Porta Fortuna at Royal Ascot. She is a daughter of US Triple Crown winner Justify, sire also of her stable’s Derby and Eclipse winner City Of Troy, and she is open to improvement over the longer trip.

Interviewed by Goodwood Media trainer Aidan O’Brien said: “We were delighted with Opera Singer at Ascot. The other horse who led just messed up her pace a little bit but we were over the moon with her. We were always going to step up to go to 1m2f in the Qatar Nassau Stakes with her after that. We’re very happy with her and everything has gone well since Ascot.

“She has an incredible pedigree and is by Justify which just makes her extra special. We think she’ll be happy with the trip and track and she can probably go even further too.”

Doyle gunning for Group 1 glory aboard Guineas victor

Roger Varian’s Elmalka was beaten nearly four lengths in the Coronation Stakes, where the subsequent Coral-Eclipse fourth See The Fire was virtually upsides in fifth, but her earlier last-to-first win in the Guineas puts her firmly in the mix.

Her rider James Doyle believes she is another who will thrive over the longer trip and said: “She ran a nice race in the Coronation Stakes in what was a bit of a tactical race run on ground that was a touch quick for her. She lacked a bit of tactical speed but was doing her best work through the line and so the longer trip should suit. Goodwood generally provide a nice surface and she should go well.”

Plenty prepared to sparkle for Cottier and Demuro

Last month’s Prix de Diane winner Sparkling Plenty will be making her first appearance since Al Shaqab bought a half share in her for a reported £5m after she had gone through the ring for a staggering £8.1m at the boutique Goffs London Sale in Kensington Palace Gardens last month.

Trained in France by Patrice Cottier, probably best known previously for his handling of Horizon Dore and Sauterne, she has taken her form to another level this year and looks highly progressive. 

It’s been nine years since her rider Cristian Demuro rode the second of just two winners in the UK and he has never ridden at Goodwood before, but his international record bears the closest inspection. The markets might be underestimating her, as they did her compatriot Goliath at Ascot last weekend.

Beckett brace and Moore mare round off ten strong field

Ralph Beckett has a very strong supporting team behind his Group 1-winning fillies Bluestocking and You Got To Me, and he runs two of them here.

He said “Lady Boba drops back to a mile and a quarter for the first time this year. I thought she travelled really well and perhaps didn’t quite get home when third in the Lancashire Oaks last time. She’s a stakes winner over a mile and a quarter and she’s in very good shape.

“Doha is owned by the sponsors and was a bit unlucky last time in the one-mile Listed race at Pontefract, where she was tight for room at a crucial stage and then ran on well to finish a close second to Caernarfon, who got first run on her. I’ve always felt that a mile and a quarter would be better for her – she’s bred to get a mile and a half – so I’m looking forward to her too.”

Novus completes a field of ten. She drops back in distance after looking a non-stayer in the Lancashire Oaks, where she finished two places behind Lady Boba.