PADDINGTON is no ordinary bear, and this is no ordinary horse.
Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-old made it six wins on the bounce with a stirring defeat of Emily Upjohn in the Coral-Eclipse.
PAPaddington (left) beat Emily Upjohn in a thriller at Sandown[/caption]
It was a record seventh win in the race for his all-conquering trainer and another substantial feather in the cap of a colt who has reached the top in a short space of time.
After all, he started his campaign in a handicap on a bleak March afternoon at Naas – not the typical starting point for a potential champion.
He has made huge strides since then, winning the Irish 2000 Guineas at the end of May and following up impressively in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Ascot.
But he was popping his cherry against the older horses at Sandown, with the £750,000 Eclipse offering up the first chance for a clash of the generations.
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And he was taking on at least one top-notcher in the shape of Emily Upjohn, as well as a couple of solid older rivals in Dubai Honour and West Wind Blows.
He left those two for dead without breaking sweat, having breezed into the lead under Ryan Moore with around two furlongs to race.
But John Gosden’s filly wasn’t going to be shaken off so easily, and the well-oiled, vocal crowd provided a fitting soundtrack as the pair of them slugged it out up the Sandown hill.
There’s no doubt that 85-40 shot Emily Upjohn left it all out on the field, but she could never quite overhaul Paddington (8-11f) who held on by a cosy half a length.
Clearly, it’s not a marmalade sandwich he keeps under his hat but a serious engine.
O’Brien grinned: “It went perfect, exactly like Ryan said it would.
“He said he was surprised how easy he went through the race and he is very excited by him.
“The horse was a bit heavier today than he was at Ascot which was a surprise, he is obviously getting bigger and quicker.
“Emily Upjohn is a very good filly, we saw that at Epsom, and those older fillies don’t lie down easily.
“I don’t think Ryan even used his whip, he always felt he had the upper hand.
“He has progressed every single month, he has been unusual but he is obviously a very serious horse.”
It takes two to tango, and Gosden was chuffed, if a little gutted, with the run of his horse.
He said: “Emily has run a hell of a race dropping back to a mile and a quarter.
“The three-year-old is a very good horse and was getting weight which might have made the difference.
“All being well we could go to the King George at the end of the month.”
As for future targets for Paddington, O’Brien hasn’t ruled out dropping him back to a mile for the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, for which he is the even-money favourite.
O’Brien added: “It will be up to the lads where he goes next, but the Sussex was always the plan after Ascot.
“We will see how he comes out of the race before we decide over the next few days.”
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