TOP 5 - CORONATION CUP WINNERS SINCE THE YEAR 2000

The Group 1 Coronation Cup takes place this weekend and Dafydd Lloyd ranks the top 5 race winners since the turn of the century. Here's who made his best 5. 5th - HIGHLAND REEL Highland Reel was a worldwide star of flat racing, and in his five-year-old campaign he returned to Europe as the 9/4 favourite in the Coronation Cup of 2017. Partnered with Ryan Moore in the saddle, he duly obliged and took the race beating several good horses, including Hawkbill for Godolphin. Amassing the most amount of prize money earned by a racehorse trained in Europe, he has won seven races at Group 1 level, undeniably ensuring that he goes down as one of the best middle-distance horses around the world.

HIGHLAND REEL

4th - EMILY UPJOHN Prior to winning the Coronation Cup at Epsom in 2023 Emily UpJohn was sent off favourite for the Oaks a year earlier, but crucially missed the start out of the stalls, which ultimately would cost her the race, losing out to Aidan O’Brien’s filly Tuesday by a short head at the finish. Fears that the same thing would happen in the Coronation Cup as well didn’t occur and she settled right at the back of a five-runner field. Turning into the straight, she swept into the lead in a matter of strides under Frankie Dettori to beat a very good horse in Westover quite comfortably.

EMILY UPJOHN

3rd - PYLEDRIVER A fan favourite for many, Pyledriver gamely saw off a tough and spirited opponent in Al Aasy in the 2021 renewal in tough conditions to win by a neck. He began the race well and took the lead of the race just down towards the descent of the hill, with jockey Martin Dwyer wanting to set quicker fractions in the contest. Fighting off challenges from the rest of the field and always giving his all, Pyledriver had his first Group 1 triumph. Usually touted as the underdog throughout his career, this horse would give connections an unforgettable victory.

PYLEDRIVER

2nd - POSTPONED In a classy field assembled for the 2016 Coronation Cup, it went the way of the odds-on favourite Postponed for trainer Roger Varian and jockey Andrea Atzeni, in the colours of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum. Going up against some of Europe’s best fillies, the likes of Arabian Queen (winner of 2015 Juddmonte International), Simple Verse (2015 St Leger winner) and Found (2015 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner), Postponed travelled well upsides his pacesetter with two furlongs to go, and showed a quick turn of foot to power past and sprint away from Found in 2nd place to win by over four lengths.

POSTPONED

1st - ST NICHOLAS ABBEY The only horse to have ever won three Coronation Cups in succession from 2011-2013, “St Nick” came with a big reputation at Ballydoyle and was the European Champion two-year-old colt of 2009. His first win at Epsom came under Ryan Moore before his other two were with jockey Joseph O’Brien. He would generally be held up in these races before coming with a decisive charge on the straight and executing his win with a potent turn of foot. His career ended prematurely due to injury in July 2013, accumulating just shy of £5 million in prize money.

ST NICHOLAS ABBEY

written by Dafydd Lloyd