By Tom Frary
In deeper than when beating up lesser lights on home soil, Godolphin's TDN Rising Star Desert Flower (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}–Promising Run, by Hard Spun) proved that she had what it takes to continue her winning sequence in Doncaster's G2 Betfred May Hill Stakes on Thursday. Untroubled in two starts on Newmarket's July Course, the Charlie Appleby-trained even-money favourite followed the early pace with William Buick content to play the waiting game.
Staying on strongly to take control passing the furlong pole, the daughter of the four-time group 2 winner kept finding on the run to the line to beat Ballydoyle's Listed Churchill Stakes scorer January (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) by 1 1/2 lengths, with Flight (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) 3/4 of a length away in third.
“She looked around in front and had plenty in reserve,” Buick said. “The obvious race now is the Fillies' Mile, but Charlie and the team will make the decision. She has a bit of energy flowing through her, but no badness.”
“She's a nice, big filly with plenty of scope for next year,” Buick added. “I was always happy and she handled the ground. She came into the race very easily, which is the sign of a quality horse obviously and she kind of confirmed what she showed us at home and on the racecourse on her first two starts.”
Charlie Appleby's assistant Alex Merriam was on hand to pass judgement. “She travelled very nicely through the race and was professional,” he said. “She showed that turn of foot at Newmarket, but in maiden and novice races, so you never know quite what you've got or what you've beaten until you take in the good races, but she's done it nicely and deserves a shot at a group 1 now.”
“She's not a flashy work horse, she's always done everything nicely but she wouldn't set the world alight at home. That can be the way sometimes,” he added. “We'll go for the Fillies' Mile and see where we go from there, but she's a big, scopey filly, so hopefully all she's going to do is improve. I'd say she's our best 2-year-old filly anyway.”
Pedigree Notes
Desert Flower's aforementioned dam Promising Run captured the Rockfel in this country prior to adding the Al Rashidiya, Cape Verdi and Balanchine to her tally. Also responsible for the G3 Solario Stakes winner Aablan (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), she is a half-sister to the G3 Lillie Langtry Stakes runner-up Arabian Comet (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) out of the Brazilian group 1 winner Aviacion (Brz) (Know Heights {Ire}). Descendants of the third dam Arbulus (Liloy {Fr}) include the elite-level performers Eddington (Arg) (Contested Bid), Panama (Brz) (Signal Tap) and Persane (Tampero {Fr}).
A lucky escape for Ryan Moore and Ecstatic out of the stalls in the May Hill! 😮 https://t.co/h4j7YeQG0m pic.twitter.com/w297QFhKsd
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) September 12, 2024
Thursday, Doncaster, Britain
BETFRED MAY HILL S.-G2, £120,000, Doncaster, 9-12, 2yo, f, 8fT, 1:37.47, gd.
1–DESERT FLOWER (IRE), 128, f, 2, by Night Of Thunder (Ire)
1st Dam: Promising Run (MGSW-UAE, GSW-Eng & Tur, $933,721), by Hard Spun
2nd Dam: Aviacion (Brz), by Know Heights (Ire)
3rd Dam: Arbulus, by Liloy (Fr)
TDN Rising Star. 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick. £68,052. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $106,623. *1/2 to Aablan (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), GSW-Eng. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–January (Ire), 128, f, 2, Kingman (GB)–I Can Fly (GB), by Fastnet Rock (Aus). O-Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. £25,800.
3–Flight (GB), 128, f, 2, Siyouni (Fr)–Run Wild (Ger), by Amaron (GB). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O/B-Cornthrop Bloodstock Ltd (GB); T-Ollie Sangster. £12,912.
Margins: 1HF, 3/4, HF. Odds: 1.00, 3.33, 8.50.
Also Ran: Miss Tonnerre (Ire), Ecstatic (Jpn), Anshoda (Ire), Serving With Style (GB), Manila Thriller (GB), Elsie's Ruan (Ire). Scratched: Biniorella Bay (GB).
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