Laurens prevails in tight finish to Fillies Mile

Laurens won the tightest of photos over September to capture the Group 1 Fillies Mile on Friday at Newmarket.

Magic Lily finished third with favored Magical a one-paced fourth under Ryan Moore. Magical and September both are trained by Aidan O’Brien, who scratched likely favorite Happily from the Fillies Mile, a seven-furlong straight course race for 2-year-old fillies, earlier Friday. Happily is a possible runner in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, though O’Brien has other candidates for that race.

September might even be one of them, and she just was denied a first stakes win Friday. Laurens led most of the seven furlongs and was saved by the wire as September, coming between horses in the final furlong, made a very late bid under Seamie Heffernan. Laurens, a French-bred daughter of Siyouni and the Cape Cross mare Recambe, was ridden to victory by P J McDonald for trainer Karl Burke. She won for the third time in four starts adding a Group 1 to her win in the Group 2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster last out.

September had raced over soft ground in her two most recent runs, and the daughter of Deep Impact appears to appreciate firmer turf of the sort she caught Friday.

Nyaleti, who is listed among Daily Racing Form’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf weekly top 10, could only finish ninth in the Fillies Mile.

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Another member of the Juvenile Fillies Turf top 10 this week, Gavota, was beaten a nose by longshot Altyn Orda earlier on the Newmarket card in the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes.

Between the Oh So Sharp and the Fillies Mile, Limato was back on his best form easily winning the Group 2 Challenge Stakes. Massaat is a talented and possibly progressive 4-year-old who was a solid second choice in the Challenge, but Limato humbled him by 3 1/2 lengths. Trainer Henry Candy said Limato, a 5-year-old gelding, would now get a winter break before preparing for a 6-year-old season that was likely to include a step back up in distance to one mile.

Third in the Challenge was the remarkable Gordon Lord Byron, a 9-year-old who was making the 81st start of his career.