Thankfully, there have been no last-minute hiccups to prevent the eagerly-anticipated match between the American dynamo Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) and the British generation-leader Queen Kindly (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in Saturday's G1 Connolly's Red Mills Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket. The former sets a clear standard on her successes in the G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot June 15 and G1 Prix Morny at Deauville Aug. 21 and Wesley Ward is not looking for excuses if she tastes defeat for the first time. “She looks fantastic and I think she's as good as we can have her,” he said. “Frankie has helped us out a lot while I've been back home for the last few weeks and there will be no excuses come Saturday. The filly is getting older and faster. She's got three races under her belt and knows a lot more about racing now. She's had good spaces between her races and seems to have settled in well here at the National Stud, so we're really excited. The Cheveley Park Stakes is a very prestigious race. I've been waiting for the right filly to come along and I think we have her.”
Queen Kindly makes for serious opposition, however, having dealt with 'TDN Rising Star' Roly Poly (War Front) and Fair Eva (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G2 Lowther S. at York Aug. 18. As a daughter of the Juddmonte great, she promises to improve with experience and this stiff stamina test will be ideal as it was for her second dam Queen's Logic (Ire) (Grand Lodge) in 2001. Trainer Richard Fahey is keeping his cards close to his chest. “We're happy with her and we'll see what happens,” he said. “The American filly is going to be hard to beat, but we'll give it a go. The ground should be fine, it should be beautiful ground. Overall they could probably do with a drop of rain to make sure it doesn't get too quick, but it won't bother her.” Owner-breeder Jaber Abdullah's racing manager Bruce Raymond added, “Frankie is very keen on his filly, but we feel our filly has improved a lot physically since she ran at Royal Ascot. I'm assuming Frankie is going to go quick and hopefully we can keep tabs on her without killing ourselves. I think the ground should be perfect for everyone. Our filly picks up well and quickens, whereas the American filly is the total opposite and is all speed from the start. We think we have a good chance of beating her, but we'll see what happens.”
Roly Poly was giving Queen Kindly three pounds in the Lowther as a result of her success in the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. over this trip on the July Course here July 8 and has only 3/4 of a length to find, while Brave Anna (War Front) had Queen Kindly back in third when winning the G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot June 17. Subsequently sixth in both The Curragh's G2 Debutante S. Aug. 21 and G1 Moyglare Stud S. Sept. 11 over seven furlongs, Evie Stockwell's homebred is an intriguing runner at inflated odds switching to a sound surface which is certain to suit.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
