Oaks winner Tuesday sets a new British Classics benchmark for Aidan O’Brien as Frankie Dettori left to rue Emily Upjohn’s slip at start

Having placed in both the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and Irish equivalent, the daughter of Galileo thrived for the step up in trip to give O’Brien his 10th victory in the race.

There was early drama as the Frankie Dettori-ridden Emily Upjohn slipped leaving the stalls and was left in rear where the eventual winner - whose third birthday it was - was lurking nearby in the hands of Ryan Moore.

As the pace began to quicken turning for home it was the first and second that caught the eye, as Moore went one way on Tuesday and Dettori and Emily Upjohn, the Musidora Stakes winner at York last month, made eyecatching headway up the stands rail.

The duo then hit the front simultaneously and were soon embroiled in a titanic battle to the line, with a photo finish required to separate the classy fillies.

Tuesday officially prevailed by a short head, with the Hollie Doyle-ridden Nashwa a further three and a quarter lengths back in third.

Dettori had to look down at Emily Upjohn following her start to check she had all four shoes, and was left to lament: “She should have won, it’s as simple as that.”

It was very much contrasting emotions for O’Brien, however.

“Ryan rode her very cold. He was very confident. We felt that a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half would suit her well, but you could never be sure,” he said.

“It wasn’t a mad pace. I thought the pace was lovely, but Ryan had her a good bit back. Looking at the race, she was a good bit back but the next thing she was challenging, so he gave her a brilliant ride. She is a baby. She was running in Classics before she was three and she was only three today.

“It just shows to show what ability she has and what kind of filly she is. She is maturing all the time and she is a total baby and Ryan said he rode kind of babyish as well. That is a great thing to hear when they win a race like that and Ryan still said that.

“She has run in all types of ground, but safe ground is perfect. She bends her knee a little bit, so obviously she handles ease. Her sister (Minding) handled ease, but she will handle fast ground as well.

“With this type of filly, we obviously look at something like an Irish Oaks or something like that. We have plenty of time. Whether it is a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half it would not bother her, and even at a mile she is very competitive.”

Meanwhile Frankie Dettori and John Gosden were convinced Emily Upjohn’s slip when coming out of the stalls cost her victory.

“She slipped coming out of the stalls, that’s what happened. The race was gone then, I was too far back behind a lot of bad horses,” said Dettori.

“I found myself last and I had to pass the whole field. Ryan had the rail, I wish I’d have come up the rail but I didn’t, I had to make my run up the other side.

“She had to make up a lot of ground and she was an unlucky loser.

“I looked down on coming out of the stalls just to check if she’d lost a shoe but she hadn’t - listen, it’s one of those things.

“You’ve seen how good she is, she’s a good one. It’s a shame, she didn’t get beat fair and square. She should have won, it’s as simple as that.”

Bookmakers seemed to agree, with Ladbrokes making Emily Upjohn 6-1 favourite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Tuesday a 12-1 chance.

Gosden, who also saddled the third home, Nashwa, who was just over three lengths away under Hollie Doyle, said: “Frankie said she grabbed at the ground and slipped and the next thing she’s last.

“They went a nice pace, the one in front (Thoughts Of June) tried to win it for herself, but she had to circle the whole field and that has cost her. That’s life.

“You can’t afford to give that ground away in a Classic. She handled the track, she did everything right, it was just lost at the start. How she got as close as she did, I don’t know.

“She’s got a lot of ability to come from last and get there, it was a hell of a run but you can’t spot a field that much, it’s not her style of racing.

“The plan was to sit third or fourth but, as so often happens, the plan went out of the window.

“She was in front everywhere but the line. I think if she’d had a clean break and not lost her legs it might have been a different result, but that’s horse racing.

“Nashwa has run a superb race, she just ran out of stamina in the last 50 yards. She’ll be better back in trip.”

Doyle, who just came up short in her quest to be the first woman to ride a British Classic winner, said: “She settled well, travelled into it as good as the winner really, but I just felt in the last furlong she got outstayed.

“I got a really nice split and I was just trying to get there with a bit of reserve in the tank as we weren’t sure about her over this trip.

“She’s run a really solid race.”