Connolly's Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes |
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| Group 1, Newmarket 14:55 £180,000 added, 2yo only, 6f, Class 1  |
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| Saturday 24th September 2016 | |
1 Brave Anna 25/1
2 Roly Poly 11/2
3 Lady Aurelia 4/6F
6 ran Distances: shd, 2l, 4l
TIME 1m 11.92s (slow by 1.92s)
Lady Aurelia was left paddling in the final furlong as Brave Anna denied Ballydoyle stablemate Roly Poly in the Connolly's Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes.
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Frankie Dettori sent the odds-on favourite to the front from the start and by halfway she was well more than three lengths clear. But on a windy day, the petrol tank read empty more quickly than Dettori would have hoped and she was a spent force by the furlong-pole.
It was at that point that Roly Poly and Brave Anna sailed past down the outside, but it was Seamie Heffernan aboard the 25/1 outsider who got the best of the photo finish by a short head. Lady Aurelia was back in third, with Queen Kindly a disappointing fourth.
Winning trainer Aidan O'Brien, successful for the first time in the race, said: "She's a good, hardy filly and we were afraid the seven furlongs was a bit too much for her the last day, but you'd say, looking at her today, she'd get the seven okay.
"She had a good break after Ascot and maybe she got a little bit tired in the Moyglare at the Curragh, but she came home very well.
"The two fillies came home very well. I don't think any of them were wilting going to the line."
He went on: "Lady Aurelia is a very good filly and we knew she was going to make the running, so we knew we would have to lay up. That's the reality. The lads know the fillies and they work it out, really. We knew Lady Aurelia was going to be in front.
"Wesley's filly is very good and she went very fast and the wind out front probably didn't help her.
"Until they are past that line, you never really know what is going to happen.
"The two went together and kept going together. When Ryan got joined, it helped. The two of them came together, which was lovely, rather than one being left there. So we are delighted, really."
Heffernan, who picked up a four-day suspension for using his whip above the permitted level and without giving his mount time to respond, added: "Aidan had her there for today. The filly that made the running was top class, but Aidan just keeps that little bit for Group Ones."
On the other side of the winner's enclosure, Lady Aurelia's trainer Wesley Ward was left very visibly deflated having travelled from the US with such high expectations for the remarkable Queen Mary winner.
"It's a humbling game," he said. "With great expectations come big disappointments. I had great expectations coming here. There were no excuses.
"She bounced out there and Frankie was bounding away in front, but when he called on her it just wasn't there the last bit.
"She's had a tough campaign. It's the first time I've tried to come over in the fall, but I'm not trying to make any excuses or take anything away from the two that beat us, especially the winner.
"But ours is a special filly and hopefully we'll get home and back in the right shape and come over next year for Ascot and the Commonwealth Cup or whatever it is.
"I expected her to win today. I laid it out there on everybody. She showed in Ascot that five furlongs is just right but I expected her to win today and I laid her out for this.
"It happens in horse racing and I felt that we were doing good and Frankie was doing everything right in training. Saying that, I wish to take nothing away from the winner.
"You could make excuses like the wind and she was a bit too keen early and I would have liked to see her a bit more relaxed and at the end of the day, I probably regret that, but I hope that you see her brilliance at Ascot and that could be it for this year."
Sky Bet kept Lady Aurelia at 6/1 in their Commonwealth Cup market, with Brave Anna and Roly Poly installed at 14/1 should connections decide to stay at sprinting trips.
Connolly's Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes (Fillies' Group 1)
£180,000 added, 2yo only, 6f, Class 1
6 ran
Going: Good to Firm (Firm in places)
| Pos | Dr | D | Horse SP | Jockey Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | (5) | Brave Anna (USA) 25/1 | J A Heffernan 9-0 |
A P O'Brien | 2 | |
| 2nd | (6) | s.h | Roly Poly (USA) 11/2 | R L Moore 9-0 |
A P O'Brien | 2 |
| 3rd | (2) | 2 | Lady Aurelia (USA) 4/6f | L Dettori 9-0 |
Wesley Ward | 2 |
| 4th | (3) | 4 | Queen Kindly 7/2 | J P Spencer 9-0 |
R A Fahey | 2 |
| 5th | (4) | nk | Pellucid 33/1 | W Buick 9-0 |
D M Simcock | 2 |
| 6th | (1) | 3½ | Holy Cat (IRE) 20/1 | C T Keane 9-0 |
M O'Callaghan | 2 |
