Middle Park winner Shadow Of Light (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) is set to step up to seven furlongs for Saturday's G1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, having been supplemented by owners Godolphin at a cost of £35,000.
Beaten just once in four career starts, Shadow Of Light is one of eight horses in contention for the premier two-year-old contest in Britain, with the others including stable-mate Ancient Truth (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) as Charlie Appleby seeks a third win in the Dewhurst after those of Pinatubo (Ire) in 2019 and Native Trail (GB) in 2021.
Appleby said of Shadow Of Light on X, “The current plan is for him to join Ancient Truth and run on Saturday. We are very pleased with what we have seen so far from him and feel that he has the potential to stretch out to seven furlongs.”
Aidan O'Brien is responsible for five of the six remaining entries, headed by the unbeaten The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who already heads the ante-post betting for next year's 2,000 Guineas and Derby. He was last seen winning the G3 Acomb Stakes at York, beating the subsequent Royal Lodge scorer Wimbledon Hawkeye (GB) (Kameko) by a length and three-quarters.
Camille Pissarro (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) has the option of a quick reappearance following his victory in Sunday's G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp, while Aftermath (Ire) (Justify) could step back up in grade, having followed his third-place finish in the G2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster with an impressive maiden success at the Curragh.
Expanded (Ire) and Rock Of Cashel (Ire), both by Wootton Bassett (GB), complete the possible challenge from Ballydoyle, leaving Hugo Palmer's Seagulls Eleven (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}) as the only one of the eight entries not trained by O'Brien or Appleby. Runner-up to Ancient Truth in the G2 Superlative Stakes at the July Course, Seagulls Eleven was last seen finishing third behind Scorthy Champ (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) in the G1 National Stakes at the Curragh.
Improving Desert Flower Ready for Fillies' Mile Test
Appleby also issued a positive bulletin on Desert Flower (Ire) as she prepares to put her unbeaten record on the line in Friday's bet365 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket.
The daughter of Night Of Thunder (Ire) made it three from three when winning last month's G2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster and her trainer is expecting more improvement from his filly when she steps up to the top level in a race which could also feature the G2 Rockfel Stakes heroine Bubbling (Ire) (No Nay Never) and the unbeaten Group 3 winner Dreamy (Ire) (American Pharoah), both trained by O'Brien.
“I'm pleased with her and she's a filly who is three from three,” said Appleby. “Listening to people on the day, I think people thought there was going to be this big 'wow' factor at Doncaster. But she's a filly who is still learning and you saw her pricking her ears there when she got to the front. She's a filly who is going to get better with the more experience she gets and experience is going to become more valuable as she keeps climbing the ladder.”
He continued, “She hasn't been beaten, but she had to race a bit more at Doncaster and the odd time they do get beaten they learn plenty from it. When you are heading into Group 1s or Classics, I don't think there is any harm in it. Hopefully on Friday she will put herself bang there as being one of the leading Guineas contenders for next year.”
Desert Flower's potential rivals in the Fillies' Mile also include Cheveley Park Stud's homebred Anna Swan (GB) (Almanzor {Fr}), who followed up her debut success at Yarmouth in similarly dominant fashion at Newbury last time.
Anna Swan holds an alternative engagement in Friday's G3 Godolphin Lifetime Care Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket and Chris Richardson, Cheveley Park's managing director, is hopeful that this filly could be the one to send trainer Sir Michael Stoute into retirement with yet another big-race success.
“It's very exciting and she's in both the Fillies' Mile and Oh So Sharp,” explained Richardson. “We'll be discussing the options with Mrs Thompson [Cheveley Park owner] and Sir Michael in due course and it would be great if she could fly the flag for him in either of those two races. She's in great form and the intention is to run in one of those, all being well.”
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