Goldikova is the standout among 46 entries for the £180,000 Group One Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket on 2nd October, 2010, but the world champion miler is among a host of top-class fillies and mares with the prestigious mile contest on their agenda, including the surprise entry, Lush Lashes.
The latter, trained by Jim Bolger, is a triple Group One winner, having landed the Coronation Stakes, Matron Stakes and Yorkshire Oaks in 2008, but has not raced since June, 2009, when finishing fourth to Dar Re Mi in the Audi Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.
Bolger, whose wife Jackie Bolger co-owned the filly, subsequently purchased Lush Lashes outright, going to 1.8 million guineas to secure her at Tattersalls in November, 2009. Earlier this year, he sent the five-year-old Galileo mare to Sea The Stars to be covered.
Bolger revealed today: “Lush Lashes was covered by Sea The Stars and scanned in foal at 42 days but did not hold on to it - she lost the foal.
“She is nearly ready now but I have no definite plan as to where she will run first - I will decide in the next two or three weeks. She is very well and seems to be back to her old self. She is so versatile that it will be fairly easy to place her.”
Bolger has also entered Group One Audi Pretty Polly Stakes third Akdarena and 1000 Guineas third Gile Na Greine in the Newmarket race.
He continued: “I wanted to have the option to drop Akdarena back in trip if it transpired that she was better at a mile than a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half, but time will decide.
“Gile Na Greine is also a possibility. I would hope to be having one runner in the race between the three of them.”
Among the eight potential French raiders is the Rodolphe Collet-trained Sahpresa who was the 16/1 winner of last year’s Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes and is on the road to recovery after suffering a setback.
Sahpresa saw off 2009 1000 Guineas winner Ghanaati to land the spoils last year and went on to finish third in the Group One Mile Championship in Japan a month later. The five-year-old mare’s sole start this term came in the Group Two Windsor Forest Stakes at Royal Ascot in June when she came home eighth behind Strawberrydaiquiri, after which it transpired that she was off-colour.
Collet revealed today: “Sahpresa has been sick since Ascot so we are working to get her back and ready to compete by September. She will be off for the summer and the plan is to come back for the autumn and maybe we can get to Newmarket again for the Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes.
“She has been sick but it has not been anything important, just enough to keep her quiet for three or four weeks. We found that she had an infection and that is why she did not run well at Royal Ascot.
“Everything is perfect now and she is back in training, so we will hopefully have her well and in good form for October. She did very well at the end of last season and ran very well in England and Japan. She looks good now and I’m looking forward to having her right later this season.”
The Freddie Head-trained Goldikova has already won nine Group One races in her career, including the past two renewals of the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and other Group One winners among the French-trained entries are 2009 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches heroine Elusive Wave, trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, and Prix Marcel Boussac winner Rosanara.
The last-named is trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre, who could also saddle Reggane, while Rouget has also entered Group Two winner Joanna. Liliside, trained by Francois Rohaut, is a Group One winner in all but name, having passed the post first in this season’s Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, only to be disqualified.
Another entry to have lost a Classic in the Stewards’ room this year is Jacqueline Quest, the Henry Cecil-trained filly having been demoted from first in the 1000 Guineas in May, but Bethrah had no such troubles when she triumphed in the Irish 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh for trainer Dermot Weld.
Aidan O’Brien has engaged five fillies, headed by impressive Group One Coronation Stakes winner Lillie Langtry.
Music Show, trained by Mick Channon, fulfilled her immense potential when sprinting clear to win the Group One Etihad Airways Falmouth Stakes over a mile at Newmarket’s Champagne Lanson July Festival. She defeated James Fanshawe’s Group Two winner Spacious that day, with the Mark Johnston-trained Group Three Jersey Stakes heroine Rainfall in third and Strawberrydaiquiri fourth.
Misheer is another on the comeback trail after a bout of sickness. A high-class juvenile last season, Clive Brittain’s charge won the Group Two Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Cherry Hinton Stakes on the July Course before finishing second to Special Duty in the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes on the Rowley Mile in September.
The Oasis Dream filly was a close fourth to Puff on her three-year-old debut in the Group Three Fred Darling Stakes but her Classic campaign went awry next time when finishing a distant last behind Special Duty in the Group One 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.
That effort left connections scratching their heads. Misheer has enjoyed a break since then and Brittain is hoping that she can return to her best form.
He revealed: “The long term plan is to bring Misheer back in the autumn in the Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes. She just did not run anywhere near her race in the 1000 Guineas so we gave her a good long break and we have just got her back into training now.
“If she pleases me and shows the same level of form she showed last year, then we will go ahead and the Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes is the race we will be going for. She has had a nice long break so it depends how she gets on now that she is back into training as to whether she will have a run before that. I would not have thought the mile would be a problem but because she has not shown her form this year, we will not really know until we try.”
Others to note among a fantastic entry are the Luca Cumani-trained Seta, the 2008 Group One Cheveley Park Stakes winner Serious Attitude, trained by Rae Guest, the Gerard Butler-trained Grade One E P Taylor Stakes heroine Lahaleeb, Rockatella from the German stable of trainer Werner Hefter, and the Godolphin pair of Antara and Anna Salai.
