Taghrooda gives special Oaks performance Taghrooda gave jockey Paul Hanagan his first taste of Classic success with an impressive victory in the Investec Oaks at Epsom. John Gosden's filly was all the rage for the mile-and-a-half contest following a brilliant display in the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket a month ago, but as doubts emerged about the form of that Listed event her price gradually eased and she was a 5-1 shot at the off. Taghrooda travelled powerfully on the heels of the leaders before being sent on at the two-furlong pole and she powered clear to score by three and three-quarter lengths from Dermot Weld's filly Tarfasha, who was completing a one-two for owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum. Long-time leader Volume ran a terrific race to finish third, with o utsider Inchila right on their heels in fourth place, just ahead of Godolphin's Ihtimal in fifth. There was another gap to the rest. Hanagan said: "It feels great, it's what I've worked hard for. I'm delighted for the team really, Sheikh Hamdan, Angus Gold, Richard (Hills), it's a big team effort and John Gosden's yard have done a fabulous job. "We had really bad news recently with the death of John Hills, who was a big part of the team, and I'd just like to say this one is for him." Richard Hills, former long-standing retained rider to Sheikh Hamdan and now part of the backroom staff, said: "This is what we work for with the boss. The filly had been working so well and had done everything right, for the Hills family it is a big lift for us. "It's great for Paul and Sheikh Hamdan, this is what we do it for, why we get up at 5am to sit on these horses - this is what we come here for." He added of his brother, who died on Sunday at the age of 53: "John will be watching, he said to me last week, 'Rich, good luck', and there's no doubt he was there with us." Gosden said: "Two years ago we should have won it with The Fugue, but she got almost knocked over, so it has always been a race owing to the stable - to that extent it was a great relief. "He rode her quite beautifully, it was a very smooth ride and he was always in a great position as Richard Hughes was in front playing with the pace a bit. He was able to go and assert and show her class and stamina. "It's great to win any Classic, it's great for the owner to win with a home-bred, beating the one he bought, that's the right way round. You don't want the ones you buy beating the ones you bred as that goes against the hard work of the people on the stud. "She's won it well and it was a good, solid Oaks with depth to it. I always thought she was a nice filly and the extra two furlongs would be up her street." Sheikh Hamdan added: "The Guineas and the Oaks are the races I really want to win as an owner. She was the most beautiful yearling, last year I kept asking John when she was going to see the course and he just kept saying wait. When she won, she only won by a head, which to me is not enough, but this year she is more mature."
