Lady Aurelia odds-on in Cheveley Park at Newmarket

For her third and final transatlantic trip of 2016, the Kentucky-based filly Lady Aurelia will start in Saturday’s $234,000 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse, a race that offers a different test. The Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes is run at six furlongs for 2-year-old fillies over a course with a notable uphill finish.

Lady Aurelia romped by seven lengths in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes against fillies at Royal Ascot in June and was the gritty winner of the Group 1 Prix Morny against males at Deauville in France in August. The Cheveley Park could be ideal for Lady Aurelia. Trainer Wesley Ward plans to start her in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at a mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4. Lady Aurelia has yet to run beyond six furlongs, but a stiff finish at Newmarket will provide clues regarding her stamina.

As of Thursday, Lady Aurelia was an odds-on choice at 4-6 with British bookmakers to better five rivals in the Cheveley Park. Owned by Stonestreet Stable, George Bolton, and Peter Leidel, Lady Aurelia will be ridden by Frankie Dettori, who was aboard for her wins at Royal Ascot and Deauville.

Lady Aurelia’s greatest threat will come from Queen Kindly, who won the Group 2 Lowther Stakes at York Racecourse last month.

The seven-race Newmarket program includes two additional group stakes for 2-year-olds – the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at six furlongs, restricted to colts, and the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at a mile for colts and geldings.

Blue Point is a standout in the $234,000 Middle Park Stakes. Owned by Godolphin Racing, Blue Point won the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes at York in August. The Middle Park Stakes drew a field of 10, including Mehmas, who beat Blue Point by a neck in the Group 2 Richmond Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse on July 28.

In the $130,000 Royal Lodge Stakes, a Win and You’re In for the BC Juvenile Turf, the leading contenders are Douglas MacArthur, third in the Group 3 Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown in Ireland on Sept. 10, and Montataire, the winner of the Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury in England on Aug. 19.