With a world record for Group 1 wins in a season at stake, Aidan O'Brien is taking no chances as he dominates Friday's G1 bet365 Fillies' Mile at Newmarket with three high-class members of his stable headed by Happily (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Having beaten her barnmates Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and September (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. at The Curragh on Sept. 10, she upstaged the colts in Chantilly's G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere 12 days ago and is chasing a rare treble here. If she comes up short then Magical, who won the G2 Debutante S. at The Curragh on Aug. 20, and September, who earned 'TDN Rising Star' status with a five-length debut score before beating Nyaleti (Ire) (Arch) and the Lagardere third Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) in Royal Ascot's Listed Chesham S. June 24, are more-than-able deputies.
“Happily only ran last week, but she seems to be in good form,” said O'Brien. “She hasn't done much since, but seems in good form and we were absolutely delighted with her in France. Magical is in good form and hasn't done much since France. The three are all closely matched and September was just in behind the other two at The Curragh. She's had a longer break and seems in good form. She has run on soft and seems to handle any type of ground, but her better form has been on better.”
If Aidan O'Brien brings a strong hand, then Karl Burke is not shirking a battle with his Sept. 14 G2 May Hill S. winner Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Sept. 24 G3 C.L. & M.F. Weld Park S. winners Ellthea (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). Charlie Appleby pitches in 'TDN Rising Star' Magic Lily (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), who took her Newmarket maiden by eight lengths on Sept. 23 but faces a major step up against proven pattern-race rivals. “Magic Lily was impressive over this course and distance on her debut and came out of that race well,” he commented. “We had been toying with the idea of supplementing her and decided to let her take her chance after she worked on Saturday. She is a filly for next year but won't look out of place in this field and we are confident that she will run a nice race.”
“I've been away at the sales quite a bit in the last couple of weeks, but I saw Laurens canter [Thursday morning] and she looks fantastic,” revealed Burke. “I think it's probably the highest class 2-year-old fillies race run so far this year, but Laurens is a high-class filly and whatever she achieves on Friday we know she'll improve again next year. Of my two, Ellthea is definitely the more mature. She's very tough and is on a steep upward curve. I think she'll have to improve on what she's done so far to finish in the first three, but I wouldn't rule it out.”
Interestingly, Freddy Head saddles a rare juvenile runner in Britain in 'TDN Rising Star' Efaadah (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), who was runner-up in Chantilly's G3 Prix d'Aumale at this trip on Sept. 3 but who has livelier ground to suit this time.
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