Unbeaten Taghrooda Draws Off Epsom Oaks

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Unbeaten Taghrooda Draws Off Epsom Oaks
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Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's homebred Taghrooda, from Sea The Stars' first crop, won the Investec Epsom Oaks (In Memory of Henry Cecil) (Eng-I) June 7. 

Ridden by Paul Hanagan for trainer John Gosden, the filly dispatched longtime front-runner and third-place finisher Volume early in the straight and drew off to victory, 3 3/4 lengths clear of Sheikh Hamdan's Tarfasha, the runner-up trained by Dermot Weld.
 
Taghrooda covered 1 1/2 miles in 2:34.89 on turf rated as good.
 
Favorite Marvellous finished sixth in the 17-horse field.
 
At 5-1 odds, Taghrooda won her third race from as many career starts and entered off a six-length victory in the Tweenhills Pretty Polly Stakes May 4 at Newmarket in her season bow. She won her debut in September at Newmarket.
 
The easy victory marked the third Oaks win for Shiekh Hamdan, who scored with Salsabil in 1990 and Eswarah in 2005, while Gosden and Hanagan captured the race for the first time. Sheikh Hamdan has 12 classic wins overall. Gosden savored classic success two weeks ago at Newmarket when sending out Kingman to win the Tattersalls Irish Two Thousand Guineas (Ire-I). 
 
The bay filly is out of the stakes-winning Sadler's Wells mare Ezima.
 
This year's edition of the English classic was run to honor legendary trainer Sir Henry Cecil, who won the Oaks eight times. He died of cancer in June 2013.
 
Check back later for a full recap.