England: O'Brien trio takes on favored Appleby runner in Fillies' Mile
The usual suspects in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile for 2-year-olds Friday at Newmarket? Yep. Aidan O’Brien trains three of the seven entrants, topped by Dreamy, while Charlie Appleby sends out the Godolphin homebred Desert Flower, heavily favored Wednesday with English bookmakers.
Dreamy in antepost wagering was a distant co-second choice with Tabiti, a Juddmonte Farms homebred trained by Ralph Beckett and ridden by Rossa Ryan, the same connections that took down the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Sunday with Bluestocking.
Tabiti has done nothing wrong winning her first two starts. She took an early lead, then kicked clear of her pursuers to win her debut, a seven-furlong Newmarket maiden for unraced horses. Cut back to six furlongs to try the Group 3 Dick Poole Fillies Stakes on Sept. 13 at Salisbury, Tabiti willingly sat behind a rival before finding room two paths from the rail and closing quickly to post a half-length victory.
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Dreamy also has begun her career with two wins, debuting at Goodwood in a seven-furlong maiden race where looked hopelessly beaten a half-furlong from the finish. Instead, Dreamy surged powerfully in the final 50 yards and caught pacesetting Beauvier, albeit a filly of limited ability who twice has been drummed since nearly beating Dreamy.
Things came more easily to Dreamy when she stepped up in class to the Group 3 level going one mile at The Curragh, where Dreamy – once again showing useful positional pace under Ryan Moore – proved 1 1/2 lengths better than Fiery Lucy. Fiery Lucy returned a month layer and validated the form with a near miss in the Group 3 Weld Stakes.
Yet the betting markets say neither of these can match up with Desert Flower, three for three to start her career.
Desert Flower won her first two starts by nearly 10 combined lengths and had no trouble moving into the Group 2 May Hill Stakes over a straight mile on Sept. 12 at Doncaster. Desert Flower raced somewhat keenly in the early stages of the May Hill but relaxed enough to fire home when William Buick asked her. She finished 1 1/2 lengths in front of runner-up January, who joins her O’Brien-trained stablemates Dreamy and Ballet Slippers in the Fillies’ Mile.
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