Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes |
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| Group 2, Newmarket 14:25 £40,700 added, 2yo Fillies only, 6f, Class 1  |
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| Friday 10th July 2020 | |
1 Dandalla EvensF
2 Fev Rover 28/1
3
Santosha 50/1
7 ran NR: Ghaaliya, More Beautiful, She Do
Distances: hd, ½l, nk Time: 1m 11.93s (slow by 1.93s)
Dandalla justifies favouritism and remains unbeaten in the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes (Sponsored By @bet365) under @_benacurtis for @karl_burke 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EjOqoroscl
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) July 10, 2020
The daughter of Dandy Man was made to work harder for this first Group 2 success than in the Albany Stakes at Ascot but was a clear winner at the line from 28-1 shot Fev Rover, giving owner Nick Bradley a one-two. Santosha, a 50-1 shot, was third.
The even-money favourite, trained by Karl Burke, was reluctant to enter the stalls in the preliminaries but proved too good for her six rivals with impressive Newmarket winner Time Scale only fourth.
Ridden by Ben Curtis, Dandalla raced in midfield for much of the way before throwing down her challenge racing inside the last of six furlongs.
Fev Rover – like the winner carrying the colours of Nick Bradley Racing – emerged as the biggest threat as the post loomed, but the market leader held on by a head.
Curtis said: “I thought after Ascot she’d be better on better ground, but we’ve come here and the ground is definitely more holding and she hasn’t travelled with the same fluency. She showed that she has guts and determination today, mixed with class and a great attitude.
“I don’t think the ground is for her and I was trying not to give her a hard race in the last furlong – I just kept her going with hands and heels as she had her head down to the floor and I was confident we were doing enough.
“I don’t think she’ll have any problem going further in time, but six furlongs seems ideal at the moment – I think we’d be happy enough to leave her there for the time being.
“It’s great for the owners – there are a couple here today with Nick Bradley. They’re obviously over the moon, getting the one-two, and it’s great to have owners back on course.”
Burke was also of the opinion underfoot conditions were against his star filly – and revealed a minor hiccup during her preparation.
He said: “She is tough and a very high quality filly. Ben was adamant the tacky ground didn’t help her – she is a good actioned filly and it was wetter at Ascot, where she got away with it.
“We had a small issue about 10 days ago with a slight temperature. It wasn’t plain sailing going into it and we took a bit of a chance, but we got away with it. Last weekend we weren’t sure about running, but she scoped good on Monday and we decided to give it a go – it’s onwards and upwards from here.
“We will give her a short break now as she has had three quick-ish runs. The Prix Morny is in the middle of August, so we have got a bit of time and we can give her two or three weeks and prep her for that.
“She is in the Prix Robert Papin, but wouldn’t go there. There is the Lowther at York, but she has a Group Two penalty now and it makes sense to have a crack at the boys in a Group One, if she is fit and well.”
Comparing Dandalla to his recently-retired stable star Laurens, Burke added: “She is definitely more precocious than Laurens. Whether she is better in the long run, time will tell. She has got a long way to go to emulate her, but she is a very good filly.
“It is amazing to get another good one so quickly after Laurens.”
Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes
(Formerly The Cherry Hinton Stakes) (Fillies' Group 2)
£40,700 added, 2yo only, 6f, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Soft
1 (1) Dandalla 2 9-0 K R Burke Ben Curtis EvsF
2 (10) hd Fev Rover 2 9-0 Richard Fahey Daniel Tudhope 28/1
3 (2) ½ Santosha 2 9-0 David Loughnane Thomas Greatrex 50/1
4 (5) nk Time Scale 2 9-0 Ralph Beckett Oisin Murphy 7/4
5 (3) 4 Hala Hala Hala 2 9-0 Kevin Ryan Frankie Dettori 13/2
6 (6) 1½ Seattle Rock 2 9-0 Sylvester Kirk David Egan 33/1
7 (7) 5½ Chica Bella 2 9-0 David Loughnane James Doyle 33/1
NR 4 (9) Ghaaliya 2 9-0 Brian Meehan NON RUNNER
NR 6 (4) More Beautiful 2 9-0 A P O'Brien NON RUNNER
NR 9 (8) She Do 2 9-0 Roger Varian NON RUNNER
