Bateel (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) looked copper-plated as favourite for the G1 Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares S. at Ascot even before the rain arrived, but now the card is set to take place on soft going there are few credible arguments against France's new femme fatale. Masterly handled by Francis-Henri Graffard, Al Asayl's homebred, who was last of 13 in this last year for the David Simcock stable, has rock-solid form entering this race as an entirely different proposition to 12 months ago. After breezing through the mud to win Haydock's G3 Pinnacle S. on June 10, the bay beat the subsequent G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris winner Traffic Jam (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) in the G2 Prix de Pomone over 12 1/2 furlongs at Deauville on Aug. 6 before accounting for Journey (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G1 Prix Vermeille back at this trip at Chantilly on Sept. 10. “This was a very obvious race for Bateel after winning the Vermeille,” Graffard explained. “I'm very glad that we weren't tempted by the Arc, as this has given her a nice bit of time to recover. She's in just as good a form as before that race, and now I don't feel any pressure. She's a filly that has her own character, but she has not stopped progressing since she joined us. I am hopeful she will put up a very good performance as we also know she goes well on soft ground, and fingers crossed she doesn't find one too good.”
While George Strawbridge's Journey has not won this term and has a 2 1/2-length deficit to make up on Bateel from the Vermeille, her four-length dismissal of some top-class opponents in this 12 months ago sticks in the memory. Trainer John Gosden is hoping there is something elemental at play as he prepares her for the race she was kept in training for.
“Journey ran well in France, but just bumped into a filly that loved that ground more than she did. She ran a super race,” he said. “She seems to come to herself in the autumn. She seems in great form trying to defend her title. She is full of vitality. We let her do most of her stuff on her own. She is quite an imperious lady and I am very happy with her going into the race. She was mighty impressive in it last year and I hope we can find the same filly this year. She will go on any ground, she doesn't want the extreme either way.”
Gosden also saddles 'TDN Rising Star' Coronet (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who took the G2 Ribblesdale S. over this course and distance on June 22 and was second to her stable's star Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks on Aug. 24, drops back in trip after finishing fifth in the G1 St Leger at Doncaster on Sept. 16. Gosden said he sees the representative of Prince Faisal Salman's Denford Stud as no back-number, “Coronet ran an exceptionally good race in the Yorkshire Oaks behind Enable and just found the pace and distance too far in the Leger, but she's a very good filly and she's getting better all the time,” he said. “She seems to be racing more alertly now than she used to. Fillies in the autumn, if they are in the zone and well, that's great. Sometimes it's a little late in the year, but they are both giving us the right signals. Fingers crossed, they will both run good races.”
After registering back-to-back successes in the G2 Prix de Royallieu over this trip at Chantilly on Sept. 30, Markus Jooste and Bernard Kantor's The Juliet Rose (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}) is an intriguing contender arriving as a relatively fresh filly on ground she will love. This going will stretch the unproven stamina of the Ballydoyle challenger Hydrangea (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who beat stablemate Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Matron S. over a mile at Leopardstown on Sept. 9 before finishing second to another from her yard in Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the 10-furlong G1 Prix de l'Opera at Chantilly on Oct. 1. “She's in good form and it's her first time over a mile and a half,” O'Brien said. “She seems to be well, but hasn't done much since Arc weekend. Obviously we're not sure about the mile and a half, but Ryan [Moore] thinks there is a chance that she might get it. We've been delighted with her last runs.”
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