Friday sees an above-average renewal of Newcastle's G3 Hoppings Fillies' S. as Imad Al Sagar's G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Nassau S. heroine Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) looks to start her 2023 campaign in earnest on the Tapeta. Disappointing when too fresh in the G2 Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud last month, the Gosdens have opted to go back to basics with one of the cream of last year's TDN Rising Stars. This is no foregone conclusion with Shadwell's G2 Dahlia S. runner-up and Listed Rothesay S. winner Al Husn (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in attendance, while the extended 10-furlong trip could bring out the best in another TDN Rising Star, last year's G1 Fillies' Mile third Bright Diamond (Ire) (El Kabeir).
Al Sagar's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe is hoping for a return to form from Nashwa. “She had hard races in the Opera and at the Breeders' Cup and really needed her first run back in the Prix Corrida,” he explained. “We wanted her to hopefully get back to her level with the plan then possibly being to head to the Nassau. Imad has shown patience, these fillies pretty much tell us when they are ready so it is a question of hopefully getting everything lined up in the right order.”
Weekend Action Shapes Up…
Ahead of what promises to be an intriguing three days of action, The Curragh's G1 Yulong Pretty Polly S. will see nine fillies and mares in the line-up including Coolmore's 2022 G1 Prix Saint-Alary-winning TDN Rising Star Above The Curve (American Pharoah) and the highly impressive G2 Dahlia S. winner Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) from the George Boughey stable. The draw was also made for Sunday's G1 Deutsches Derby at Hamburg, with Gestut Karlshof's Straight (Ger) (Zarak {Fr}) in pole position after his five-length dismissal of TDN Rising Star Mr Hollywood (Ire) (Iquitos {Ger}) in Cologne's G2 Union-Rennen earlier this month. He is drawn in eight, with Wanja Soren Oberhof and Sebastian Weiss's Mr Hollywood, who had previously won Munich's G3 Bavarian Classic, in stall four. Liberty Racing 2021's G3 Baden-Baden Derby-Trial winner Fantastic Moon (Ger) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) has stall 16 to contend with, but six of the last 10 winners of the Classic were coming from double-figure stalls including his sire who was drawn 15 in 2014.
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