Bet365 Lancashire Oaks
Group 2, Haydock Park 14:15 £93,000 added, Fillies 3yo plus, 1m 3f 200y, Class 1
Saturday 2nd July 2016

1 Endless Time 11/4F
2 Furia Cruzada 11/2
3 Loving Things 4/1
NR: Abingdon (USA), Fireglow, Lustrous, Miss Marjurie (IRE)
6 ran Distances: ½l, ½l, ¾l
TIME 2m 40.21s (slow by 15.21s)

Endless Time wins the Group 2 Lancashire Oaks for James Doyle and Charlie Appleby

Endless Time
© Caroline Norris

Endless Time is set to bid for the Red and White Rose double after taking the Bet365 Lancashire Oaks at Haydock Park.

The Charlie Appleby-trained daughter of Sea The Stars progressed through the ranks last season, winning four of her five starts, and showed that she will have even more to offer with her first Group-race victory.

Conditions at the Merseyside track were testing, and James Doyle opted to keep his mount reasonably prominent behind the slow early pace.

Striking for home two furlongs out, the response from the 11/4 favourite could hardly have been described as immediate, but she knuckled down well to the challenge and kept on to hold off the plugging-on Furia Cruzada by half a length, with long-time leader Loving Things close up in third.

The Yorkshire Oaks on the Knavesmire next month could be on the cards for Godolphin's four-year-old filly, after she overcame a 258-day absence to take this.

Doyle said: "She'd been off a long time and that had to be a worry. At the three-furlong marker the German horse (Nightflower) held me in and then I got held on the inside but I wasn't that worried as she has a good turn of pace.

"She doesn't do a whole lot when she gets to the front but it worked out perfectly."

Appleby's assistant James Ferguson said: "That was fantastic. She's won first time out before and we've taken our time and done a lot of work with her.

"She's always been a big filly and has grown up mentally. We knew she'd enjoy the soft ground.

"The only question coming into the race was if she was good enough. She's proved today she's good enough and she's been very relaxed about the whole thing.

"If she's all good at home we'll probably head for something like the Yorkshire Oaks.

"We were very pleased with her and she'll definitely come on for it."

Appleby was at Sandown, from where he said: "She was the same weight as when she won the Listed race at Naas well and we've trained her for a late summer/autumn campaign.

"She loves juice in the ground and the more rain they were getting up there the happier I was going to be.

"We might be being a bit bold, but we are going to work backwards from the Fillies' And Mares' at Ascot, that was always the plan. We hoped we'd win today, look at the Yorkshire Oaks and go on from there.

"The final target is the Fillies' And Mares'."

Bet365 Lancashire Oaks
£93,000 added, 3yo plus, 1m 3f 200y, Class 1
6 ran
Going: Soft (Heavy in places)