3 minute read

Immortal Verse swept past the entire field in the straight to lead home a French one-two in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Gerald Mosse was content to sit in last place in the Group One contest and when he asked for an effort from the Robert Collet-trained filly the response was electric.

Immortal Verse (8-1) surged past on the outside and led inside the final furlong to beat Nova Hawk, trained by Robert's son Rod Collet, by two and a quarter lengths, with Barefoot Lady another half a length away in third.

Speaking through a translator, Collet said of Immortal Verse, who was truculent in the stalls in the 1000 Guineas and subsequently withdrawn: "This is the best filly I have trained.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 One filly. Her biggest asset is her turn of foot. She will have her next run in the Prix d'Astarte at Deauville (Prix Rothschild, July 31)."

Mosse added: "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."

Collet jnr said of runner-up Nova Hawk: "I'm really happy for two reasons: first for my horse, and second because it was my father who beat me. I think, perhaps, seven furlongs is her ideal trip rather than a mile.

"It's great to be back here, especially as Sahpresa didn't perform in the Windsor Forest last year. You should never stop wanting to come back to Ascot."