By Tom Frary
Friday's Listed Michael Seely Memorial Fillies' Stakes at York was a Coronation Stakes trial in all but name and there was a clear-cut winner in James Wigan's Lilt (Lope De Vega) with Royal Ascot looming.
Coming into the deep mile contest off a Doncaster maiden in October, the 13-2 shot was delivered with a telling surge by Tom Marquand to overwhelm Cheveley Park Stud's upwardly-mobile So Regal (Kingman) and score by 1 1/2 lengths. There was another two lengths back to Nurlan Bizakov's unbeaten Botagoz (Mehmas) in third.
“She was a little shy out of the gates, changed leads a couple of times and was just struggling to really get into gear but she's only had one start over 200 days ago where she made the running, so did the job nicely here,” her rider said. “She had to learn a lot today on the job and I thought she did it well and hit the line strong.”
Trained by William Haggas, the winner is a daughter of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf heroine Dank (Dansili). “She's a beautiful filly who is beautifully-bred and today she'd have learnt a lot,” Maureen Haggas said. “It's up to James and William where they want to go, but I think at the moment a mile is fine. She is a big girl with a big future.”
Unbeaten!
Lilt is bred to be good and strikes on her return in a deep-looking @SkyBet Fillies' Stakes.
One to look forward to for @WilliamHaggas @yorkracecourse pic.twitter.com/sLzA5BI6Kf
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 15, 2026
Lilt is the second black-type winner out of the high-class dam, whose career tally also included a Beverly D. and Group wins in the Dahlia Stakes, Atalanta Stakes and Kilboy Estate Stakes. Her previous is the stable's Doom (Dubawi), who scored twice at Listed level and was third in the G2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes. Dank is a half to the Group 1 winners Eagle Mountain (Rock Of Gibraltar) and Sulk (Selkirk), with the family also featuring the G3 Balanchine Stakes winner Bye Bye Birdie (Oasis Dream).
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