By Tom Frary
Having made a habit of dismissing her peers by wide margins, Godolphin's TDN Rising Star Desert Flower (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) has to do it on a higher plane as she encounters some similarly promising opposition in Doncaster's G2 Betfred May Hill Stakes on Thursday. Having beaten the re-opposing Flight (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) convincingly on debut on Newmarket's July Course, she returned to defy a penalty in style last month and trainer Charlie Appleby has no concerns about the hike from seven furlongs.
“We feel that the step up to a mile here should hopefully bring about some more improvement, which will be needed at this level,” he said. “We have been pleased with her preparation and are looking forward to seeing how she gets on in this company. Like much of the field, we will be a lot wiser after the race.”
Ballydoyle's juvenile fillies have carried all before them so far in 2024 and it could be that TDN Rising Star Ecstatic (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) is ready to join the best of them. Her 3 1/4-length success in a Tipperary maiden last month bore all the hallmarks of one of the stable's past leading lights and she is bred for it, being a daughter of Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Ryan Moore picks her over the Listed Churchill Stakes scorer January (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), while another notable with black-type previous is Team Valor and Gary Barber's G3 Prestige Stakes winner Anshoda (Ire) (Inns Of Court {Ire}).
A Tantalising Trio Of Pattern Races…
Doncaster also stages the G2 Park Hill Stakes, or “Fillies' St Leger” is it is colloquially known, where Valmont and Ballylinch Stud's unexposed course novice winner Oxford Comma (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) encounters the proven Meon Valley gem Mistral Star (GB) (Frankel {GB}). That Hughie Morrison-trained homebred “won” the race within a race in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks last month, faring best of the remainder adrift of the three main protagonists Content (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), You Got To Me (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).
ParisLongchamp's G3 Prix des Chenes sees Juddmonte's Deauville maiden winner Nesthorn (GB) (Expert Eye {GB}) tested against some more experienced rivals, while his trainer Francis-Henri Graffard also saddles the Aga Khan's exciting TDN Rising Star Zarigana (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) in the G3 Prix d'Aumale. Impressive on debut at Chantilly in July, she meets Teruya Yoshida's acquisition Angeal (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), the unbeaten winner of the G3 Prix Six Perfections at Deauville.
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