Darley Yorkshire Oaks
Group 1, York 15:35
£500,000 guaranteed,
3yo plus,
1m 3f 188y, Class 1   
Thursday 18th August 2022

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1 Alpinista 7/4F
2 Tuesday 7/2
3 La Petite Coco 4/1
7 ran Distances: 1l, 1¾l, 2½l
Time: 2m 29.92s (slow by 0.82s)

It was also the fifth time in a row the gutsy Kirsten Rousing-owned Alpinista has triumphed at Group One level, with the success for the brave daughter of Frankel a first Group One on home soil for trainer Sir Mark Prescott since Marsha landed the Nunthorpe at the same track in 2017. 

Irish Oaks winner Magical Lagoon and fellow raider La Petite Coco led the seven-strong field along in the early stages, with Luke Morris always in the slipstream of the leaders aboard the 7-4 favourite. 

Magical Lagoon was the first to crack as the race developed in the straight and having beaten off the challenge of La Petite Coco with a furlong to go, Alpinista stuck her head out and battled to the line to repel Aidan O’Brien’s Tuesday, who finished second at 7-2. 

A winner at Saint-Cloud prior to this win on the Knavesmire, all roads now lead back to France for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, with QuinnBet leaving Alpinista unchanged in the market at 7-1. 

“They (Group Ones) are all great, but they hard to come by. For a smallish stable, every five or six years you get good ones come along and it’s tremendous when it happens,” said Prescott. “We trained this one’s dam, grand-dam and great grand-dam. It’s been a marvellous family.

“The original intention was to go Coronation Cup and King George, but she wouldn’t come (in her coat) in time for the Coronation, so it then became Saint-Cloud (for the Prix Ganay) and then either here or the Vermeille.

“But Miss (Kirsten) Rausing (owner-breeder) was very keen to come here as she (Alpinista) hadn’t won a Group One in England. She has really done it all now, she’s won Group Ones in England, France and Germany.”

He went on: “That (Arc) has always been her aim. Last year we rather patted ourselves on the back for being so clever winning three Group Ones in Germany, then when the one behind us (Torquator Tasso) came and won the Arc we rather felt we might not have been as clever as we thought we were!

“When she stayed in training this year that was always the aim.”

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Darley Yorkshire Oaks (Fillies' Group 1)
(British Champions Series)
£500,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 1m 3f 188y, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Good, Good to Firm in places

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (5)     Alpinista 5 9-9 Sir Mark Prescott Bt Luke Morris 7/4F
2 (2) 1 Tuesday 3 9-0 A P O'Brien Ryan Moore 7/2
3 (6) 1¾ La Petite Coco 4 9-9 P Twomey W J Lee 4/1
4 (7) 2½ Lilac Road 4 9-9 William Haggas Tom Marquand 12/1
5 (1) hd Magical Lagoon 3 9-0 Mrs John Harrington Shane Foley 8/1
6 (3) 3½ Raclette 3 9-0 A Fabre Olivier Peslier 10/1
7 (4) 2 Poptronic 3 9-0 K R Burke Sam James 33/1