Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes
Group 1 Fillies, Newmarket 14:45
£200,000 added,
3yo plus,
1m, Class 1   
Saturday 3rd October 2020

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1 Nazeef 17/2
2 Half Light 14/1
3 Cloak Of Spirits 28/1
12 ran Distances: 1½l, nk, ½l
Time: 1m 42.21s (slow by 7.21s)

John Gosden’s Nazeef, striking on the eve of stable star Enable’s bid for a historic third Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp, produced a determined late challenge under Jim Crowley to beat Half Light and Cloak Of Spirits by a length and a half and a neck.

Nazeef had capped a winning sequence of six in succession when she struck for the first time at the top level over the July Course in the Falmouth Stakes three months ago.

That was over this same distance of a mile, before she twice came up short at 10 furlongs in the highest grade at Goodwood and Deauville.

But Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum’s four-year-old appeared to relish rain-softened conditions on her return to Newmarket, challenging inside the final furlong to see off the runner-up, who had been supplemented for the race by French trainer Henri-Alex Pantall.

Gosden said: “They had a 100 millimetres of rain in Deauville and it was like an ice rink – she couldn’t get her foot in, so Frankie looked after her. She came out of the race well and we were able to come here back to a mile. 

“I think she gets a mile and a quarter, but she got confused and lost her balance a little coming down the hill in the Nassau to run on late and be third. She is a grand filly that is very brave. 

“For Newmarket this is soft, it is quite testing by our standards here. I think she asserted well in the last 50 yards. She is a tough filly. 

“She was in handicaps last year. She won a handicap in great style at Chelmsford last backend. We decided then, with permission of her owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan, to keep her in training to win a Listed race, which she did immediately in the Snowdrop. 

“She then went on to the Duke of Cambridge, then the Falmouth and then the trainer got carried away – but she will get a mile and a quarter – and then to win this one her. 

“It has been a fantastic year for her. I think it was a career best. In the Falmouth it was heads and necks and she battled by a neck. She is gritty and an assertive filly.”

Trainers Quotes

Gosden will now consider the options for Nazeef with her owner.

He added: “It’s up to the owner-breeder and he may decide to send her to the breeding sheds. He may decide to run her next year or have a run in America. I think the key thing is the next 10 days – she will tell us if she wants to do any more or not. 

“You never think you are going to go from a Chelmsford handicap to knocking off two Group Ones at Newmarket, but she is a willing filly to train. She is quite lazy in her work and looks after herself. 

“She is not one of those horses that wants to over do and I think that is a big factor with her. 

“Those are the options – retire, race next year or Breeders’ Cup. I’m pretty sure she has a QEII entry and that is another one you can look at. We will put them all on the table and see what we want to do.”

Mathematician Betting

Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes (Fillies' Group 1)
£200,000 added, 3yo plus, 1m, Class 1
12 ran
Going: Soft

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (12)     Nazeef 4 9-3 John Gosden Jim Crowley 17/2
2 (1) 1½ Half Light 4 9-3 H-A Pantall William Buick 14/1
3 (9) nk Cloak Of Spirits 3 9-0 Richard Hannon Andrea Atzeni 28/1
4 (6) ½ Champers Elysees 3 9-0 J P Murtagh Colin Keane 11/4F
5 (11) 1¼ Terebellum 4 9-3 John Gosden James Doyle 7/1
7 (2) nk Lady Bowthorpe 4 9-3 William Jarvis Kieran Shoemark 28/1
6 (10) 1¼ Feliciana De Vega 4 9-3 Ralph Beckett Harry Bentley 12/1
8 (3) ½ Billesdon Brook 5 9-3 Richard Hannon Sean Levey 12/1
9 (7) ¾ Veracious 5 9-3 Sir Michael Stoute Oisin Murphy 8/1
10 (5) 9½ Final Song 3 9-0 Saeed bin Suroor Jason Watson 125/1
11 (4) 6½ Lavender's Blue 4 9-3 Amanda Perrett Hollie Doyle 40/1
12 (8) 4½ Peaceful 21 D 3 9-0 A P O'Brien Ryan Moore 100/30

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