Tuesday, Newmarket, Britain
LANWADES STUD NELL GWYN S.-G3, £60,000, NEW, 4-12, 3yo, f, 7fT, 1:28.35, sf.
1–#@NATHRA (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Iffraaj (GB)
1st Dam: Rada (Ire), by Danehill
2nd Dam: Old Domesday Book (GB), by High Top (Ire)
3rd Dam: Broken Record (GB), by Busted (GB)
(270,000gns Ylg '14 TAOCT). O-Mr Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah; B-Pier House Stud (IRE); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £34,026. Lifetime Record: G1SP-Eng, 4-3-1-0, $250,992. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Squash (GB), 126, f, 3, Pastoral Pursuits (GB)–Super Midge (GB), by Royal Applause (GB). (£9,000 RNA Ylg '14 DNPRM). O-C M Budgett; B-Mrs Mary Taylor & Kirtlington Stud (GB); T-Philip McBride. £12,900.
3–Robanne (GB), 126, f, 3, Paco Boy (Ire)–Arctic Song (GB), by Charnwood Forest (Ire). (37,000gns Ylg '14 TAOCT). O-Mrs E Roberts; B-Mrs R D Peacock (GB); T-William Knight. £6,456.
Margins: 1HF, 3/4, HD. Odds: 1.25, 33.00, 14.00.
Also Ran: Mix and Mingle (Ire), Coolmore (Ire), First Victory (Ire), Epsom Icon (GB), Fourth Way (Ire), Only Mine (Ire), Yeah Baby Yeah (Ire). Scratched: Illuminate (Ire), Aljazzi (GB).
Helped by the rain at Newmarket and the resultant withdrawal of Illuminate (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), Nathra turned in a thoroughly professional effort to provide a boost to Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who had beaten her by 4 1/2 lengths into second in the G1 Fillies' Mile at the same venue in October. Displaying a liking for this type of surface when beating the subsequent Listed Radley S. winner Light Music (GB) (Elusive Quality) on her Salisbury debut and when following up by seven lengths in Newbury's Dubai Duty Free Full of Surprises EBF Stallions Fillies' Conditions S. over this trip in September, the bay some smart rivals well beaten in the Fillies' Mile as Ballydoyle's leading lady streaked clear in a memorable performance. Sluggish from the stalls on this comeback, Nathra was waited with towards the rear of mid-division by Frankie Dettori and made smooth progress to enter contention passing halfway. Gaining a slight advantage with a quarter mile to race, she was pushed out with mainly hands and heels from there as Squash produced a career-best to beat the rest. “She's done nothing but stay and it pays a huge compliment to Minding, who in my mind is the most impressive Fillies' Mile winner we've ever seen,” trainer John Gosden said. “It looked like they were going to come across to the rail as Frankie thought he was going to get well and truly boxed in and he had to move from his gap. As soon as he said, 'Go', she took off. He could have waited another 100 yards and she might have done it easier, but he couldn't have afforded to wait that long with the risk of being up against the rail. She's in both the French Guineas [G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches at Deauville May 15] and the [G1] 1000 Guineas [at Newmarket May 1], she probably won't run in both. We'll see how she is over the next 10 days, it will be one way or the other.” Dettori added, “All her runs have been on soft and she had the best form, but I made my move a bit sooner than I wanted to and got her racing too early, so her class got her through. You'd probably have to be more patient over a mile, but I think it's too much of a gap to bridge on Minding at so if she turns up at Newmarket we have the option of going to France.” Squash's trainer Charlie McBride said of the runner-up, “She'd been working well at home and we just expected her to run a big race. We didn't put her in the Guineas, as we had doubts about her getting a mile but on that run she possibly could get a mile as she was staying on up the hill. There are plenty of nice races for her throughout the year. She's very hardy and tough and is the type that never runs a bad race or lets you down.” Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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