Many doubted her ability to stay the 2400m of the race and perhaps that factor, combined with a gruelling 10-race campaign exclusively at stakes level and the slightly shifty track conditions of the Derby, was her undoing.
After a memorable two-horse battle down the straight in the Championship Stakes between Corporal Jones and Zarzuela, many predicted a repeat in the Derby and that the same two horses would race to themselves.
But in the excitement of the head-bobbing finish between those two horses in the Championship Stakes, many overlooked the strong run from well back in the field by New Zealand 2000 Guineas runner-up Military Move, who went out on Derby Day at 15–1.
It was Military Move who took the honours, though, handling the 2400m of the Derby brilliantly and aided by a perfect ride from Michael Walker.
Walker, who in May 2008 was nearly killed when he fell 10m down a bank while on a pig hunting trip, celebrated the win in a memorable and emotional manner.