Immortal Verse led home a French quinella when she swept past the entire field to land the G1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on Friday.
Immortal Verse (3f Pivotal – Side Of Paradise by Sadler´s Wells) failed in the French 1000 Guineas in May but rebounded to take the G2 Prix Sandringham at Chantilly with a trademark last-to-first burst.
Pitched in against a deep field of fillies at Royal Ascot, the Robert Collet-trained filly defeated Nova Hawk (Hawk Wing) and Barefoot Lady (Footstepsinthesand) by more than two lengths. The runner-up is prepared by Collet’s son Rod.
“She is the best filly I have trained,” Collet said. “Things didn’t go to plan in the French Guineas but we knww she is a Group 1 filly.”
Jockey Gerald Mosse was confident at the 500m mark even though the filly was anchored at the tail. “It’s the first time I’ve been on board and I knew she’d react, but not that fast. I won the Coronation on Gold Splash in 1993 but this filly has a fantastic turn of foot.”
Her sire Pivotal was a G2 winner of the 1996 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot and the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York before retiring to Cheveley Park in Newmarket. He started stud life at a 6,000 pounds fee alongside his own sire Polar Falcon and his services are now worth 65,000 pounds.
Immortal Verse was bred in Ireland by Kilfrush Stud and was a 460,000euros buy for owner Robert Strauss at the 2009 Arqana yearling sale.
She is out of the Saint-Cloud stakes-winner Side Of Paradise. Her dam is a half-sister to champion racehorse and sire Last Tycoon.