Longshot filly Margot Did surprises in Nunthorpe

Margot Did, one of two fillies in a field of 17, pulled a 20-1 upset in Friday’s Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York, England, giving jockey Hayley Turner a career-best second win at the highest level this summer.

Turner won the Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket on Dream Ahead last month. At the time, Turner became the first female rider to win a Group 1 in England since Alex Hammond won the Nunthorpe Stakes in a dead heat in 1997.

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Margot Did, always near the front, won the Nunthorpe by three-quarters of a length over 28-1 Hamish McGonagall, with another outsider, 12-1 Prohibit, finishing third, 1 1/4 lengths behind the winner. Hoof It, the 11-4 favorite, finished sixth in the five-furlong turf race.

The Nunthorpe, which had a purse of approximately $454,000, was part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge program, offering a fees-paid berth to the winner for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs in November.

Margot Did, by Exceed and Excel, is trained by Michael Bell and has won 5 of 13 starts. Margot Did won the minor Scurry Stakes over five furlongs at Sandown Park, England, in June, her only previous stakes win.

After the race, Bell told the press that Margot Did will be pointed for the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp in Paris on Oct. 2.