bet365 Lancashire Oaks
Group 2, Haydock Park 14:40
£125,000 guaranteed,
Fillies 3yo plus,
1m 3f 175y, Class 1   
Saturday 6th July 2024

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1 Queen Of The Pride 10/3
2 Tiffany 85/40F
3 Lady Boba 4/1
8 ran Distances: 3l, ½l, 3¼l
Time: 2m 31.40s (slow by 2.20s)

The impeccably-bred Queen Of The Pride continued her rapid ascent through the ranks, securing an authoritative victory at Haydock.

With Roaring Lion, a champion middle-distance performer, as her sire, and St. Leger heroine Simple Verse as her dam, John and Thady Gosden’s filly had lofty expectations to meet from the outset. However, the Qatar Racing homebred has admirably upheld the family honor.

Despite a defeat in her Newmarket debut last summer, she concluded her three-year-old campaign with a triumph at Leicester. This season, she has maintained her progress, narrowly missing out in Listed company at Goodwood before securing a Group Three win over the Lancashire Oaks course and distance in last month’s Pinnacle Stakes.

Guided by jockey Oisin Murphy, Queen Of The Pride defied her odds (100-30) to step up to Group Two level, displaying a sharp acceleration to pull three lengths clear of the 85-40 favorite, Tiffany.

Quinnbet has slashed her odds for next month’s Yorkshire Oaks to 6-1 (from 16-1), while Murphy speculates that a trip to ParisLongchamp during Arc weekend in October could be on the horizon.

He said: “She really relaxed today and jumped and travelled. I thought we went a good, even pace and I was quite cautious of the bend, so I went from following Luke Morris (Tiffany) quite closely to giving him a few lengths head start at the top of the straight.

“I was really pleased with how she picked up and she ran right the way through the line. We all thought after she won her last race here that something like the Prix de Royallieu would be a good long-term target and I’m sure that’s in John and Thady’s mind.”

Thady Gosden added: “Obviously she won here last time in the Lester Piggott (Pinnacle) Stakes and she was still a little green and learning then. You could see here today she’s definitely picked up a bit from last time out.

“She has run well here over the mile and a half, so it’s possible (the Yorkshire Oaks). We’ll have to assess our options and see where we go.

“She’s a proper Qatar Racing homebred. It’s very unusual to own the sire and the mother and they were two champions in their own right, so it’s a huge achievement for them.

“We’ll see how she comes out of it, she’s done absolutely nothing wrong so far and she’s a smart filly.”

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Bet365 Lancashire Oaks
£125,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 1m 3f 175y, Class 1
8 ran
Going: Good

POS. (DRAW) FORM HORSE AGE TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (2)    Queen Of The Pride 4 9-7 John & Thady Gosden Oisin Murphy 10/3
2 (1)
3 Tiffany 4 9-7 Sir Mark Prescott Bt Luke Morris 85/40F
3 (5)
½ Lady Boba 4 9-7 Ralph Beckett Rossa Ryan 4/1
4 (8)
Sweet Memories 4 9-7 John & Thady Gosden Robert Havlin 8/1
5 (7)
Novus 4 9-7 Gary & Josh Moore Tom Queally 33/1
6 (6)
nk Sea Theme 4 9-7 William Haggas Tom Marquand 6/1
7 (3)
½ Kolossal 6 9-7 2 Jamie Osborne Saffie Osborne 33/1
8 (4)
½ Forest Fairy 3 8-9 Ralph Beckett Rob Hornby 16/1

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