Ylang Ylang back on top in Fillies' Mile
Ylang Ylang stayed on well after meeting trouble to land the bet365 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained bay was not prominent under Ryan Moore and was handled patiently after starting at odds of 9-2 in the one-mile Group One.
On soft ground the race became more of a test of stamina and in the latter stages of the contest she was able to edge past the 3-1 favourite Shuwari to prevail.
Ylang Ylang was an early favourite for next year’s 1000 Guineas after winning her first two starts, triumphing in a Curragh maiden in June before claiming the Group Three Silver Flash Stakes the following month.
The daughter of Frankel was then off the track until September, when she trailed home last of nine runners upped to the highest level in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh.
She the finished third in the Rockfel at Newmarket last month, beaten two and a half lengths by the second-placed Shuwari as Carla’s Way proved too good for both.
However, trying a mile for the first time in this contest, Ylang Ylang turned around the form with Shuwari in style.
It briefly looked as though See The Fire was going to take home the honours as she went for home well over a furlong out, but Shuwari was poised to challenge on the stands side and inched in front with the winning post in sight.
Ylang Ylang was just hitting top gear on down the middle of the track though and she kept on gamely to come home half a length in front, with three-quarters of a length splitting the placed pair.
O’Brien felt her Moyglare run, when she tried to make all, was best forgotten and admitted he did not think the filly was at her best even in victory.
He said: “Obviously the Moyglare went wrong – she ran a bit keen because she’d made the running the first twice, but when her chance was gone Ryan looked after her.
“She came here for a lovely, educational run the last day. Ryan was beautiful on her and said we should come back for this race.
“Because her season got interrupted a bit she wouldn’t have been at her 100 per cent best today. We were kind of coming here more for education for next year than today being the be-all and end-all, but I thought Ryan was really incredible on her.
“She’s classy and very brave and a very exciting filly for next year. She’s done for this season and looking at her today, she’d have no problem starting in a Guineas and could get the Oaks trip.”
Paddy Power cut Ylang Ylang to 10-1 from 33-1 for both the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks.
Her stablemate Opera Singer – a five-length winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac – is the 5-1 favourite for the former and the 8-1 market leader for the latter.
Of Opera Singer, O’Brien added: “We saw what she did the last day (in the Boussac) and they’re both very smart fillies.
“Opera Singer is by Justify and when Justifys go past the furlong marker, when they go seven furlongs or a mile, they just take off.”
Oh So Sharp Stakes
Dance Sequence pounced late to land the Godolphin Lifetime Care Oh So Sharp Stakes for William Buick and Charlie Appleby.
The filly came into the race with one run and one victory under her belt and started at 4-1 for the seven-furlong Group Three despite not having run since July.
Travelling in mid division, the daughter of Dubawi joined runner-up and 7-4 favourite Skellet in pulling clear of the field at the half-furlong pole before crossing the line a neck ahead of the latter horse.
The pair pulled three lengths clear of third-placed Star Music, with the winner now a 14-1 shot for next year’s 1000 Guineas with Coral.
Appleby said: “She was very impressive on her debut and today was very similar.
“William had confidence going into both races and said he was going to drop her in today. I said ‘be careful, there’s a tailwind, don’t let them get away free on the front end’, but he has such confidence in this filly, she answers every call and he didn’t have to get hard on her.
“We purposely gave her the gap after Newmarket. She’s a big, scopey filly and people would have been saying you could be going here, there and everywhere, but we’re well aware that we’re in the process of rebuilding our team and fillies like these aren’t easy to come by sometimes, so we purposely wanted to give her the time.
“We wanted to come here, get this assignment done, hopefully put away for the winter and dream about running in some Guineas trials next year.”
By his owns lofty standards the Moulton Paddocks handler has had a quiet year when it comes to top-level success, but he remains philosophical.
He added: “It’s not tough, this is the game we’re in. If you think you’ve cracked it you better go and find another sport.
“We knew ourselves this season was going to be a bit more challenging following the retirement of some of those older horses, as they’re always the pillar of the yard, but we’re confident we have some nice two-year-olds coming through.
“I don’t see a Guineas colt, if I’m being honest, but looking at some of the pedigrees we’ve got and some of the physicals, they were always going to be three-year-olds.
“Hopefully this filly is one of the sharper ones in the fillies’ division. She’s got a bit more daylight to go yet before we look at her as a serious Guineas contender in my opinion, but she’s on the right path.”
Ryan Moore was handed a five-day ban for careless riding aboard Skellet after the stewards found he had allowed his mount to drift right-handed in the early stages of the race, interfering with Bellarchi.
Moore will be suspended on October 27, 28, 30 and 31 plus November 1, will rules him out of Doncaster’s Futurity Trophy where ante-post favourite Diego Velazquez would be a possible mount.
Challenge Stakes
Matilda Picotte made all the running to claim the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards Challenge Stakes at Newmarket.
Kieran Cotter’s enthusiastic three-year-old has some smart form figures on the Rowley Mile having won a Listed heat late last season at the track before returning to finish third in the 1000 Guineas behind Mawj and Tahiyra earlier in the year.
Returning to Newmarket on the back of an all-the-way success in the Sceptre Stakes at Doncaster, it was a case of more of the same in this Group Two event as Oisin Murphy allowed his willing partner to stride on.
The riders of chief rivals Audience and Chindit were at pains to close the gap as Murphy allowed Matilda Picotte to fill her lungs entering the dip and although the pack did close slightly in the latter stages of the contest, Matilda Picotte had enough in the tank to finish full of running and two and three-quarter lengths clear of fellow Irish raider Lord Massusus.
Cotter said: “I was a bit concerned she might falter in the last 100 yards, but she’s so much pace and she’s so genuine and they have to work hard to get to her.
“Her last couple of runs have been outstanding. I’ve been saying to the lads (owners) for a while that you wouldn’t see the best of her until the backend of her three-year-old season and she’s just got better and better.
“Oisin said today he was going too fast and she was aggressive early, but you can’t fight her, he just lets her roll and she’s incredibly tough.
“It’s fantastic as we wouldn’t have 20 horses, but we’re showing that if we have the right one, we can turn up on the day and take the money. It’s fantastic to be able to come to a racecourse like this and compete – we’re privileged to have her.
“I don’t know if she’ll run again this year. There is the Breeders’ Cup, who knows?
“There’ll be a lot of races for her next year, if we have her. I think she has an entry in the sales, but the lads were saying if she won well today they might keep her.
“She’s a horse of a lifetime and it’s been a fairy tale for all the lads.”
Cornwallis Stakes
Inquisitively showcased his sprinting potential to claim the Newmarket Academy Godolphin Beacon Project Cornwallis Stakes in impressive fashion.
The youngster caught the eye when trained by Ollie Sangster in the early stages of his career, placing in the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot, but has taken his form to the next level since switching to Kevin Philippart De Foy in Newmarket.
An impressive winner of a Listed race at York during the Ebor Festival, he took the step up to Group Three company in his stride and the 100-30 second favourite displayed plenty of speed from the start as he made all in good style in the hands of William Buick.
It is the biggest success of Philippart De Foy’s training career so far and his exciting speedster is now a 16-1 chance from 20s with Coral for next year’s Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.
The handler admitted the soft conditions were something of a question mark before the race.
He said: “I wasn’t that confident beforehand (because of the ground), but he’s a very tough horse and very professional. He took the lead and grabbed the race from the get-go.
“I think he’s a five-furlong horse. We’ll probably have to try him over six later down the line, but he’s got bags of speed and jumps so well. He relaxes very well in his races, but to me he is a five-furlong horse.
“We’ve had a couple of Listed winners, but I wanted a Group winner and I was very keen to do it with a two-year-old. It’s job done and the next step is to try to get a Group Two or a Group One winner.”
Inquisitively changed hands before his York win and Philippart De Foy is unsure on future plans.
He added: “For the time being he is staying here. He was sold to go to Hong Kong, but I asked if I could run him at York and we decided to go for one more today. I’ll have to speak to the owner, it’s a question mark, but I would love to keep him.
“We’ve got a question mark on the Breeders’ Cup (Juvenile Turf Sprint), but it’s a long way out and we’ll have to talk about it and see. We’ll discuss it, it’s not off the table.”
Paddy Power offer 8-1 about his chance in America.
