Light Up The Park

Saturday’s G1 Connolly’s Red Mills Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket features a rematch between two fillies who fought out the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. staged on the other track in town in July, with Denford Stud’s Illuminate (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) having the edge over Besharah (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). While the latter has since gone on to notable success and even bettered her previous efforts, Illuminate is still unbeaten and is a filly fresh from a summer break after her exertions in the G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot June 19 and the July 10 Duchess of Cambridge or old Cherry Hinton. “We think the filly is very good and Frankie, who rides her for the first time at Newmarket, came down to sit on her last Saturday,” trainer Richard Hannon said. “Obviously, Besharah, whom we beat a nose in the Duchess of Cambridge at the July meeting, has improved plenty since but we took the view after that race to keep Illuminate for this and she has thrived physically for the break and has put on 34kg through the summer. The more the ground dries out the better Illuminate’s chance, but she breezed out in style for Sean Levey on Wednesday morning and we are very happy with her. There looks to be plenty of pace in the race, which will also suit us.”

Since her marginal defeat at the July meeting, Besharah has not taken a backward step and improved on her subsequent G3 Princess Margaret S. success at Ascot July 25 when annexing the G2 Lowther S. at York Aug. 20. In the latter race, Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum’s diminutive bay put the much-vaunted Lumiere (GB) (Shamardal) firmly in her place and sets the standard on that form. “Besharah should run a great race. She has been doing very well and has been waiting since York for this,” trainer William Haggas said. “I am very happy with her condition and I think it is a great race. She is a very tough, busy filly so in some ways I wish that we had been able to run her again between now and York as we have had to keep a lid on her. She goes on any ground. I could not be confident that she will turn the tables on Illuminate, as I thought that Illuminate won the Duchess of Cambridge a bit better than the nose verdict suggested. She might have improved, but Besharah has got better over six with cut in the ground.”

Lumiere’s conditioner Mark Johnston is keen to have another pop at Besharah and is in confident mood. “Everything is fine with Lumiere and we are taking the bull by the horns on Saturday,” he commented. “We are not belittling the horse that beat her at York as Lumiere will have to improve a bit to turn the tables on her, there is no doubt about that. In her maiden win at Newmarket, she didn’t see another horse and that was followed by a Group 2, which is a hell of a jump up. I thought a furlong and a half out she was going to get swallowed up, but she battled back well. We should see a much better horse on Saturday.” Aidan O’Brien pitches in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. third Alice Springs (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who was invigorated by a hood when behind stable companions Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Ballydoyle (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in that Sept. 13 feature but is declared without it here.