If there is one lesson to take from recent runnings of Royal Ascot's G2 Queen Mary S., it is to follow Wesley Ward's runners blind and the Royal Ascot crowds will be putting maximum faith in Happy Like a Fool (Distorted Humor) on Wednesday. Impressive on the dirt when scoring on debut over 4 1/2 furlongs at Keeneland on Apr. 9, Merriebelle Stable, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Susan Magnier's chestnut carries substantial confidence into the latest renewal. “She is great–doing super,” Ward said. “She had a big work last week with Jamie Spencer and came out of that great. It is exciting. She's the most talented of all the 2-year-olds I've brought this year. She's got a beautiful mind, is extremely talented and is a big filly too. If they are big and fast they are usually really good.”
Of the home team, Mrs Gallagher (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) has course-and-distance form having won a smart contest on debut on May 12 from the subsequent winners Ertiyad (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Out of the Flames (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) and bids to put William Jarvis back on the map. Two other British fillies with the potential x-factor are the Clive Cox-trained Heartache (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), who scored by six lengths on her racecourse bow at Bath on May 26, and the June 10 Hilary Needler Trophy Fillies' Conditions S. scorer Chica la Habana (Ire) (Havana Gold {Ire}).
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