Goodwood's Qatar Festival winds down on Saturday, with the feature G2 Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes looking an open affair for the staying fillies and mares. George Strawbridge's Free Wind (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was only fourth behind the re-opposing first and second Sumo Sam (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and River Of Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in this 12 months ago and Thady Gosden is hoping she can regain the winning thread that she lost after last year's G2 Middleton Stakes.
“Last year in the Lilly Langtry, it was unfortunate there were thunderstorms during the day and unpredictable levels of rain and understandably that didn't suit any of them,” he said. “It's a premier staying-fillies race of the summer and of course it's a very competitive field.”
Francis-Henri Graffard is looking for more high-profile British success with Wathnan Racing's 2023 G2 Prix de Pomone winner and G1 Prix Vermeille runner-up Melo Melo (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), while the pick of the 3-year-olds could be Ballydoyle's G3 Stanerra Stakes winner Grateful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), their prized daughter of Tepin (Bernstein).
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
