Integral faces tougher field in Falmouth repeat bid

Integral could become the first repeat winner of the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes since 2005 when she starts in the one-mile race for fillies and mares Friday over Newmarket’s July Course, but the group she faces this season looks deeper than the one she beat in 2014.

Soviet Song was the last horse to go back-to-back in the Falmouth, which has been won by the likes of Goldikova (2009). Integral is not a horse of that class, and handicappers must find the balance between her love of Newmarket racing and her somewhat-questionable form in 2015. Integral disappointed last out, finishing fifth of six as the odds-on favorite in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Ascot. She has a seventh, a fourth, and that fifth in her three races this year.

None of those starts, however, came at Newmarket, where Integral has two wins and two seconds from four starts, all against high-quality opposition.

Favored in antepost betting on the race is Lucida, who was simply left with too much to do last month in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Ascot. Her strong late rally was good only for third behind the very good fillies Ervedya and Found, and just in front of American invader Miss Temple City. Second to Legatissimo in the English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier this year, the 3-year-old Lucida gets a nine-pound break in the weights (124 to 133) from her older rivals like Integral.

A 3-year-old won the Falmouth in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010, and Lucida, in from Ireland for trainer Jim Bolger, stands a good chance to add her name to that list.

Also in the race is 2014 Beverly D. winner Euro Charline, who balked at loading before the Duke of Cambridge and was scratched – prematurely, in the opinion of trainer Marco Botti – to avoid delaying the start. Euro Charline could well have a return trip to the Beverly D. on her agenda and might be a race away from her best, her most recent outing having been a solid fourth of 10 in Solow’s Dubai Turf win on March 28.

Avenir Certain also will look to challenge. The 4-year-old won the French Oaks last year and came into the Arc undefeated, but she could only finish 11th there and has been somewhat slow to come around this season. A second last out in the Group 3 Bertrand du Breuil probably was a step in the right direction, though the filly who beat her in that start, Fintry, also is in the Falmouth.

Amazing Maria, Bawina, Lady Dutch, and Arabian Queen round out the field.

Post time for the Falmouth is 10:15 a.m. Eastern, and the turf condition is expected to be good-to-firm.