There are races where the outcome is in doubt even after the horses have crossed the finish, and there are others where a horse looks a sure winner long before that, and so it was Friday at Epsom Downs in the Oaks where Ezeliya, moving sweetly from start to finish, scored a three-length victory. Ezeliya, under a patient ride from Chris Hayes, appeared to be the Oaks heroine a long way from home and became trainer Dermot Weld’s first Oaks winner in a good long time. Weld, 75, won his other Oaks in 1981 with a filly named Blue Wind. Weld trains Ezeliya for her breeder, the Aga Khan, and also trained Ezeliya’s dam, Eziyra, a Group 2 winner and sixth in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Ezeliya, by Dubawi, is the second foal to race from Eziyra. Ezeliya is a filly of modest scope but she came back for her first race at age 3 clearly having matured into a more finished racehorse after showing promise as a 2-year-old. Ezeliya won well at Cork in her second start, was put away for the winter, and tallied by a half-length with something to spare April 27 going 1 1/4 miles in the Group 3 Salsabil Stakes at Navan. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Sent off a distant 6-1 second choice Friday behind odds-on Ylang Ylang, Ezeliya took up a position racing a couple paths from the running rail with cover near the back of a 12-horse Oaks field, and as the fillies swung left and right, up and down the twisting, undulating Epsom course, Ezeliya relaxed beautifully, focused and poised, ready to do more but willing to wait for her cue. She began inching forward under the most subtle urging from Hayes with about three furlongs to run, had come to the leaders with a quarter-mile left having not been asked for anything serious, and gave her rider an immediate response when Hayes asked Ezeliya for her best. She did lug left while catapulting past the last horse standing between her and victory, runner-up Dance Sequence, but Hayes quickly straightened Ezeliya and she cruised home much the best. Dance Sequence, owned by Godolphin, took a major step forward from her ninth in the 1000 Guineas and finished 1 1/2 lengths ahead of 50-1 War Chimes in third. Ezeliya clocked 2:42.06 for 1 1/2 miles over a course rated good-to-soft and clearly quite soft in spots, while giving Hayes his first Oaks win. Ezeliya’s best race came in her first try at the Group 1 level and with a move out to 1 1/2 miles. With further maturation still to come, she could be in for a very nice season. Luxembourg takes Coronation Cup Ryan Moore controlled the pace from the start, guiding Luxembourg to a one-length win in the Group 1 Coronation Cup earlier on the Epsom card. Hamish made a solid run for second as favored Emily Upjohn, who got a favorable pressing trip, came up empty and faded to a well-beaten fourth. Five-year-old Luxembourg had been 14th of 16 in the March 30 Sheema Classic, but in December was a fine second to top 1 1/4-mile horse Romantic Warrior in the Hong Kong Cup, and in September had been second to Breeders’ Cup Turf and Epsom Derby winner Auguste Rodin in the Irish Champion. This was just his third try at 1 1/2 miles and first win over the distance. His winning time of 2:42.12 was slightly slower than Ezeliya’s in the Oaks two races later. Luxembourg paid $5.80. Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Luxembourg is by Camelot out of Attire, by Danehill Dancer. O’Brien said the horse could be cut back to 1 1/4 miles for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.