Tunnes tuned up for Coronation Cup challenge

Horse Racing

German raider on course for Epsom raid.

Peter Schiergen’s Tunnes will fly the flag for Germany in Dahlbury Coronation Cup at Epsom on Friday.

The four-year-old has an eye-catching pedigree as he is out Tijuana, the dam of 2021 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Torquator Tasso.

Tunnes was a juvenile winner and then had a successful three-year-old season as he claimed the German St Leger and the Grosser Preis von Bayern in fairly quick succession as autumn approached.

He then jetted to Tokyo to take on the Japan Cup, a Grade One race in which he finished ninth of 18 to wrap up his season.

This year he kicked off his campaign in the Carl Jaspers Preis, a Group Two held at Cologne, and came home second over the same one-mile-four-furlong trip he will encounter at Epsom on the first day of the Derby meeting.

“He is good, he will run on Friday,” said Schiergen.

“He had a break and after the break he started and was second, he was good, he’s improved and I’m happy in the mornings.

“It was good enough for the first time, he wasn’t 100 per cent, he has improved and should be right now for Epsom.”

Should his Coronation Cup bid go to plan, there may be a return to British turf on the agenda for Tunnes, with the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot pencilled in for later in the season.

Schiergen said: “If he runs well,
we might plan to run him in the King George.”

Emily UpJohn and Frankie Dettori
Emily UpJohn and Frankie Dettori (John Walton/PA)

Emily Upjohn makes her seasonal bow in the race and joint-trainer John Gosden feels the race should put the filly spot on for her targets later in the summer as last year’s Oaks runner-up returns to Epsom.

“She’s been fine but like a lot of the fillies, after that false glimpse of spring in February, we then had it cold and wet and she went back into herself,” he told Nick Luck’s Daily podcast.

“She’s taken a long time to come ready but hopefully she’s ready now to run a nice race in the Coronation.

“The race will bring her on. For the older horses, the races are June onwards. We had a think about going to Dubai but chose not to which was the correct and wise decision given who won it (Equinox).

“It looks like a small, select, elite field and she’s a filly taking on the colts, but we want to get her back going and I think you’ll see a big improvement going into June and July.

Trainer John Gosden
Trainer John Gosden (Mike Egerton/PA)

“She showed brilliance early on last year then it all went wrong in the King George when a few of them, like Westover, over-raced.

“She then had a long time off to come back on Champions Day, when she won with great authority. Right now she’s on the way to getting back up to that level, but I think the race will be key to bringing her on.”

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