Saturday's G2 Lancashire Oaks suffered a loss on Friday when Sir Michael Stoute ruled out Ballymacoll Stud's exciting Abingdon (Street Cry {Ire}), leaving just one 3-year-old filly to take on the older bridage headed by Godolphin's long-absent Endless Time (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). Last seen winning the Listed Bluebell S. over this trip at Naas in October, the 4-year-old, who had earlier beaten Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) in a Goodwood handicap as she scaled the heights, has been patiently coaxed back to the track by Charlie Appleby, who said, “We obviously haven't seen her in action since the autumn, but she's done well from three to four and she's in really good order. We purposely decided to wait for the second half of the season, as we know she's a filly that appreciates cut in the ground. We probably didn't expect the ground to be quite so soft at this time of the year, but that's just how things have worked out. She's only run one disappointing race so far and we put a line through that as we had excuses. I'm really pleased with the condition she is in going into the race on Saturday and it looks a good starting point.”
Successful in the G1 Preis von Europa at this distance at Cologne in September, Stalla Nizza's Nightflower (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) escapes a penalty and should strip fitter for her comeback seventh in the 11-furlong G2 Grosser Preis der Badischen Wirtschaft at Baden-Baden May 29. “She has improved from her last start and I think if she has travelled well, she has a good chance,” trainer Peter Schiergen commented. “Her work has been good and I don't think she will have any problems with the ground.”
Heading the lone charge of the Classic generation is Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's Fireglow (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), who was fourth in the May 1 G1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. Second in the G3 Musidora S. stepped up to an extended mile and a quarter at York 10 days later, she was only 11th in the G1 Coronation S. back at a mile at Royal Ascot June 17. “We're sort of reverting to what we were expecting her to be doing in the spring,” trainer Mark Johnston's son and assistant Charlie explained. “After winning a listed race in soft ground as a 2-year-old, we were thinking she'd be going a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half this season, but then she ran such a good race in the Guineas we were keen to give another go in a Group 1 at a mile. She just didn't have the speed of those fillies at Ascot, so we're stepping her up now and we'll see how we go. It is a big jump up in trip, but from what she showed as a 2-year-old and the way she is physically, we'd be relatively confident she'll stay. On form she's probably the best filly in the race, so hopefully she'll go close.”
Revived by a switch to Luca Cumani's stable, 'TDN Rising Star' Loving Things (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) comes into this on the back of a win in the 12-furlong Listed Pontefract Castle S. June 19, while her former trainer John Gosden has won three of the last five editions and saddles a duo headed by the June 15 G2 Duke of Cambridge S. runner-up Furia Cruzada (Chi) (Newfoundland).
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