Charlie Appleby may seek a happy medium with Notable Speech after his experimental sprint run in the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup Stakes ended in defeat.
Last season’s 2000 Guineas winner has got his head in front only once since that Classic success and has seemed to be faltering towards the end of his one-mile assignments this season.
He was therefore scaled back to six furlongs to see if that would trigger a return to form and though the distance posed an unknown, he was still well fancied as the 85-40 favourite under William Buick.
The Group One contest was not to be the scene of his comeback, however, and he ultimately finished fifth to leave his trainer pondering a stab at seven furlongs next.
He said: “Will genuinely sounded disappointed, he said he’d thought he’d done everything right and then at the business end he just didn’t finish.
“We’ve been seeing the same thing at a mile so maybe we’ve got a look a bit harder at him, I don’t know.
“It was always going to be hard to jump to make an assessment after his first time sprinting at this level.
“I see no reason not to meet halfway at seven (furlongs) and go to York, which was always our plan.
“If the horse comes out of it well, and I see no reason why he won’t, we’ll head to the City of York Stakes.”
Of stablemate Symbol Of Honour, who was eighth under Oisin Murphy, he added: “Symbol Of Honour really doesn’t like the Rowley Mile, we’re nowhere near the Rowley Mile but he still wasn’t handling the track.
“Oisin still said to me that he’s a Group One sprinter in the making so he’ll carry on sprinting, he’ll go to Haydock or somewhere like that. A slick track will suit him perfectly.”
Connections of the Mick Appleby-trained runner-up Big Mojo were thrilled with their colt’s effort and are planning a step back to five furlongs for the remainder of the campaign.
“I’m absolutely delighted with him. We’ve tried him over six this year, we’ve been brave,” said owner Paul Teasdale.
“Today was always going to be a tough ask but he did fantastically well. I’m really proud of him, I thought he’d just about got it but not quite, I’m still delighted.
“The King George, the Nunthorpe, the Flying Five – we’re in all of them so we’ve got some options.
“He travels so well, he can withstand the pace and he’s got a great finish in him.
“He won the Molecomb last year, he’d be delighted to go back to Goodwood.
“He’s really maturing into a top-class horse.”
Aidan O’Brien’s Whistlejacket, who was well supported in the lead up to the race, finished 12th at odds of 13-2 and may be due an easy few weeks after he was out of luck at Royal Ascot too.
The trainer said: “It was a good, strong pace and he got back a little bit. We’ll see where we’ll go, we might give him a little break and freshen him up for the autumn.
“It didn’t work the last day and it didn’t work today, so that’s what we might do. A little break and we might have him back for Haydock or something like that.”
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Wild Desert may have had to make do with minor honours behind his stablemate in Newmarket’s Superlative Stakes, but he left the distinct impression that he will be winning big races in due course.
A runaway winner on his Haydock debut in May, the son of Too Darn Hot was then narrowly beaten at long odds-on on the July course last month and jockey bookings suggested he was the second string stepping up to Group Two level over the same track and trip.
Interestingly, he went off a shorter price than the winner Saba Desert and he would almost certainly have made more of a race of it but for suffering interference when delivering his challenge and he passed the post in third. Compensation may await in a race like the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood.
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Fox Legacy struck in good style at York to take the valuable John Smith’s Cup Handicap.
The four-year-old, who is owned by King Power Racing and trained by Andrew Balding, was not far from the action when last seen in the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot and was a 10-1 chance under PJ McDonald.
Always prominent when racing from stall 19, the bay progressed nicely through the race and was comfortably able to pull clear when asked in the final furlong to prevail by a length.
“It’s a testament to the horse that from that draw I was able to get a position and then take him back and relax where I was,” McDonald told ITV Racing.
“The only thing I had to do was to make sure not to go too soon, he travelled around beautifully for me and he gave me a great spin.
“I was still going nicely into the two (furlong pole). I thought if I let him stretch out and take it (the lead) they’d have to come and get me. Andrew’s horses are absolutely flying.”
Al Qareem showed there a few more reliable horses in training when seeing off all challengers to claim the John Smith’s Silver Cup Stakes.
Karl Burke and Nick Bradley Racing’s seasoned six-year-old won a Listed contest over the same course and distance last time out and was well backed as the 4-7 favourite under Clifford Lee.
He took up the lead at an early stage and was never passed, shrugging off every horse that attempted to challenge him in the home straight to claim victory by a dominant two and a half lengths.
“He always seems to look as though they’re going to get him but he just grinds it out, he’s so honest and a superstar of a horse to train,” said Burke.
“I’d say the weight will rule him out of the Ebor, presumably he’d get a penalty as well.
“It’s always been the target, the Irish St Leger, I think it’d be a nice race for him to roll the dice in.”
Washington Heights claimed a well-deserved success in the John Smith’s City Walls Stakes at York, justifying his status as the 9-4 favourite.
Trained by Kevin Ryan and ridden by Shane Gray, the five-year-old has run with real credit in a range of Group sprints and was most recently seen finishing a close-up seventh in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot.
On the Knavesmire he tackled the same five-furlong trip but was dropped down to Listed level, taking on seven rivals and proving the best of them with a smart three-quarter-length victory.
“He’s a great horse for a syndicate like this, he takes them to all the right meetings and as you can see today, they support him well,” said Adam Ryan, assistant to his father.
“It’s great for him to get his head in front. The thing with him is he’s as tough as bell metal, I thought they were going to get to him a furlong down but it was going to take a brave horse to get past him.
“Thankfully he dug deep, which he always does.”
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Richard Hughes’ No Half Measures ran out a shock winner of the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup Stakes at Newmarket.
At 66-1 she was a real outsider in the Group One contest, and from stall 15 she kept out of trouble under Neil Callan on the far side of the track.
As the six-furlong event reached the business end she was picking off rivals and after locking horns with Big Mojo, it was No Half Measures who came out on top by a neck with a further length and three-quarters back to Run To Freedom in third.
Hughes steered Oasis Dream to victory in the 2003 July Cup and after taking up training in 2015, No Half Measures is his first Group One winner as a handler.
Neil Callan returns to the winner’s enclosure aboard No Half Measures (Joe Giddens/PA)
An emotional Hughes said: “I’ve just got a bear hug off William Buick and he’s cut my lip!
“It’s brilliant. Disappointments when you’re training are very hard and the highs don’t meet the lows. We fancied the filly yesterday Mood Queen and she finished last, which was excruciating, and the highs aren’t even high enough.
“It’s an up and down game, but I’m coping better with it now than I used to. It’s been a tough enough ride to get to here, but I’m definitely appreciating more now than when I started.
“I didn’t appreciate all those good horses when I was riding, I just took it for granted and I was very lucky to be riding for Richard Hannon and having the Khalid Abdullah job – I was privileged to be riding good horses every year.
“We get a good horse through the yard now and again and I’m trying to mind it like a baby and I’m watching it every day in case it goes wrong because you probably only have one or two bullets. In Hannon’s, if one broke you’d get on another one next day or I’d get another ride. There was a flow of horses and I found it very easy.
“I was a little bit naive when I started training – I thought if I bought 20 horses one of them was going to be good. Then I bought 20 the following year and still no good one.
“This is harder, but more rewarding for sure.”
Of gaining his first Group One as a trainer, he added: “I’ve got the monkey off my back that’s for sure and I can retire now saying I rode a July Cup winner and trained one, so that’s really nice.
Richard Hughes (second left) with No Half Measures (Joe Giddens/PA)
“Of course I want more, it’s my nature as I’m very competitive, but if you don’t have the horses you can’t train them.”
No Half Measures won a handicap at this meeting last year before graduating to Group Three and Listed success, but Hughes admitted he had not expected to hit the mark at the highest level.
He said: “She won here last year in a handicap and when Ryan (Moore) got off her I asked him if we’d get a bit of black type and he said ‘she’s better than that’, which is something Ryan never says! He’s a realist, so I was quite surprised by that.
“We plotted to get our black type and we got it and she’s done nothing but improve.
“There was very little pressure today really. At halfway I thought she was going OK and then I just held my head because I couldn’t believe what was happening!
“I just thought if she’s going to get caught she’s going to caught, because they normally do, but I would have been pleased even with second or third, so to win is just a bonus.”
Callan has had a quiet season so far and was grateful to get the Group One call up from Hughes.
He said: “It’s surreal because I’m getting into the twilight of my career. My son Jack is starting and I’m getting a lot of flak saying I’ve getting give up. He was with Kevin Ryan yesterday and my old boss Kevin telling me I’ve got to retire so this one’s for you, Kev!
“I’ve got to thank Richard (Hughes) because if you don’t get given these opportunities then you can’t take them and I’m not in a position to be going around scouting and taking rides.
“You know this game – you’re only as good as your last ride so you’ve got to come out and prove yourself every time you come out, every day.”
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Saba Desert overcame a bumpy start to lift the bet365 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket.
The chestnut was ridden by William Buick and bunny hopped out of his stall to find himself on the back foot early on, but quickly put that behind him to settle to the task as a 6-1 chance.
Plenty of his rivals began to hang to the left and Saba Desert was inclined to follow them, but still his class came to the fore and he was a length and a quarter ahead of the 4-6 favourite Italy when crossing the line.
Wild Desert, who like the winner is trained by Charlie Appleby, was a further neck back in third and as the first three got close in the finish, a stewards’ inquiry was called, although the placings were left unchanged.
Saba Desert was a debut winner at Sandown and Appleby said: “It was an interesting race and Saba Desert is a horse we’ve liked from the get-go.
Saba Desert and William Buick in the bet365 Superlative Stakes (Joe Giddens/PA)
“We were pleased with the way he did it at Sandown, he naturally progressed from Sandown to here and as everyone knows this is a race we try to find the right one for.
“I know he fluffed his lines at the start but I don’t mind that, I’d rather that than them hit the lids and then you’re up there being forced up on the pace. He’s done it all the right way round and the most important part is when you hit the rising ground you’re finishing and he’s done that with class, I feel.”
Appleby now has his sights set on the Group One Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in the autumn with Saba Desert.
He added: “He’s by Dubawi, so you’re starting with the right product, and we’ll work back from the Dewhurst with him now. Whether we decide to go down the National Stakes route or whether we go to the Champagne (Stakes at Doncaster) and then the Dewhurst we’ll see, but he’ll get a break now.
“He’s more of a Guineas type (than a Derby horse) for next year. There’s plenty about this horse, he’s a true Dubawi and I think he’ll only get better.”
Of Wild Desert, Appleby added: “I’m delighted with the third horse, he was the one that probably got the most interrupted run and he might go to Goodwood for the Vintage.
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) July 12, 2025
“He’s a hard horse to gauge as he’s not a work horse at home, whereas the winner is push button – if you want to win a gallop by 10 lengths, you just push the button and he will, but we don’t need to do that, we can wait until we come here.”
O’Brien was satisfied with Italy’s effort and will now likely head to the Curragh next month for a Group Two assignment.
He said: “We’re very happy, he was a bit babyish and a bit green, as we thought he might be.
“He’ll go back to the Futurity Stakes probably now. If he’d won today he’d have had to go into a Group One next, so in a way it’s better (that he got beaten).
“He came for experience and he hasn’t been woke up at all really. We’re very happy and we’ll look forward to him the next time.”
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William Haggas will test the water at Group-race level before the season is out with More Thunder following his narrow success in the bet365 Bunbury Cup at Newmarket.
The winner of two valuable six-furlong handicaps on the Rowley Mile in the spring, the four-year-old was beaten a head by Get It when bidding for his hat-trick in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot last month.
More Thunder was a 6-5 favourite to get back on the winning trail in this £100,000 contest and having been dropped out last by Tom Marquand early on, he was angled towards the stands’ rail to mount his challenge and quickened up smartly to challenge for the lead.
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) July 12, 2025
Last year’s winner Aalto, a 40-1 shot to successfully defend his crown, bounced back from an uninspiring run of form to make a real race of it inside the last of seven furlongs and the pair flashed by the post almost as one, but it was More Thunder who had his head down where it mattered, with the judge confirming him the winner by a nose.
Haggas said: “I need to watch it again, but for me they didn’t go fast at all and he struggled to get momentum. I think he’s better going fast and Tom came in and said ‘if you run him over this trip again, they need to go hard’. Six furlongs, he feels, is his best trip.”
More Thunder holds big-race entries in major handicaps and Pattern races and it is clear his trainer is keen to see him compete in Group One company at some stage.
William Haggas at Newmarket on Saturday (Joe Giddens/PA)
When asked if he had thought about running in the July Cup later in the afternoon, Haggas added: “We considered it strongly, but we also wanted to go up to seven furlongs at some stage and this was an opportunity to do so.
“That is why he came here, but we will have a crack at a six-furlong stakes race. He just needs pace this horse, but in six-furlong Group races, you’ll see in the July Cup, they don’t go slow!
“He could run in another handicap, but I think he deserves a shot at a good race now.”
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Orion’s Belt got punters off to a a flying start on July Cup day at Newmarket with a runaway success in the opening Rossdales British EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes.
A narrowly-beaten fourth as an odds-on favourite for her debut at Salisbury four weeks ago, Richard Hannon’s charge was a well-backed 15-8 market leader to open her account at the second time of asking.
Her supporters will have had few concerns, with Orion’s Belt sent straight to the lead by Ryan Moore and she was three and three-quarter lengths clear of the chasing pack at the line.
Hannon’s senior head lad, Tony Gorman, said: “She’s a very nice filly and that was exactly what we thought earlier on in the year.
“She was stepping up in trip today, but I think even at six (furlongs) she would have won because she was always in a lovely place.
“Once ours have had a run they know their jobs and she’s loads of options. She’s a big filly so we’ll give her a bit of time and she’s by a proper sire (Starman).”
Royal Velvet (4-1) swooped fast and late to land the Trustatrader 20th Anniversary Fillies’ Handicap under a typically well-timed ride from William Buick.
Winning trainer William Knight said: “Having Will Buick on board always helps and he gave her a great ride there. He doesn’t know the filly and he just let her go through the gears.
“I was quite happy with where she was, seven (furlongs) is fast enough for her but she came good at the end.
“At some point in the future we might get some black type with her.”
Fifth Column came out on top in a Godolphin-dominated finish to the bet365 Mile Handicap, with John and Thady Gosden’s 4-1 shot outpointing Charlie Appleby’s 7-4 favourite Bedouin Prince by a neck, with Ryan Moore the winning rider.
John Gosden said: “The plan was there to get there as late as possible and he got there and did it nicely. I’m very happy with him.
“I’ve already been told by bet365 we have to go for the Cambridgeshire, but being a three-year-old we’ve got to get the weights up a bit.
“He won the race on his side in the Britannia (at Royal Ascot) and it’s nice to win here with him.”
Oisin Murphy steered Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Claymore to victory in the Trustatrader Handicap – his first win since his drink-driving conviction last week.
Murphy, who was fined £70,000 and banned from driving for 20 months having pleaded guilty to one count of driving a motor vehicle while over the prescribed limit of alcohol, had two and quarter lengths in hand at the line aboard the 7-2 shot.
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William Buick is “on the list” of potential riders who could partner Field Of Gold in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood later this month.
Narrowly denied by Ruling Court in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket when partnered by Kieran Shoemark, the John and Thady Gosden-trained grey has made no mistake in two subsequent outings under Juddmonte’s new retained rider Colin Keane, dominating his rivals in the Irish Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
However, with Keane ruled out of the entirety of the Goodwood Festival after picking up a 14-day suspension at Sandown last week for transgressing the whip rules, Field Of Gold will require another change of jockey on July 30.
Juddmonte’s European racing manager Barry Mahon insists no final decision will be made until closer to the time, but told the PA news agency on Saturday: “I’m sure he (Buick) is on the list, but we’ll have to wait and see whether Godolphin have a runner in the race and everything else nearer the time.
“All being well we’re heading to Goodwood – that is plan A. I saw the horse myself earlier this week, he looked in good shape and seems to be doing well.
“We’ll make a decision on who rides him closer to the time.”
John Gosden rates a Buick a possible pick, although he did joke that Frankie Dettori had put in a request for the ride from his American base.
When asked whether Buick was the most likely pilot, Gosden said: “Probably, yes, but I got a picture from Saratoga of a man lighting a picture in a Catholic church and underneath it said ‘please can I have the ride’!
“That’s a joke! Someone like William (it could be), but we haven’t got near the race yet. You know this game, we’ll just wait.”
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Distant Storm just edged out Constitution River in the usually-informative Weatherbys British EBF Maiden Stakes at Newmarket.
Won 12 months ago by Field Of Gold, a host of other subsequent Group-race performers have been successful in the seven-furlong contest and the first two home both had their supporters.
Distant Storm (5-6 favourite) cost €1.9million at the Arqana breeze-up and the Night Of Thunder colt boasts an exceptional pedigree as the penultimate foal of the mare Date With Destiny, who in turn was the sole progeny of multiple Group One winner George Washington.
He had to prove he was tough as well as classy to see off Aidan O’Brien’s Wootton Bassett colt Constitution River, but Distant Storm managed to win by a short head to provide Charlie Appleby and William Buick with another July meeting winner.
The front two were well clear of the rest, and Appleby said: “We came here with confidence – he’s been a very straightforward horse to deal with.
“Obviously he was bought from the Arqana breeze-up, so you would expect them to know a little bit more and he has a pedigree to get excited about, but as an individual he’s a very normal horse.
“He’s not flashy and doesn’t draw attention to himself, he just goes out and does what he’s asked to do and in a nice manner, so hopefully he’s a horse that will mentally progress quicker than some of those buzzy ones.
“The first two pulled nicely clear and he’ll have learned plenty today. We’ll give him a bit of time as he’s unfurnished still and he needs to strengthen before you pitch them in that (Group One) level as if you pitch them in too soon or before they’re ready, you will go quickly backwards.”
Appleby could now look to next month’s Ebor meeting at York with Distant Storm, adding: “There’ll be races we can dip our toe in and allow him to progress – with his mindset he might be an Acomb Stakes horse maybe.
“If he goes and ticks the next box, then you have a chance of looking towards a Group One target.”
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Aidan O’Brien could look to France for a Group One-winning opportunity for January after the filly narrowly missed out in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket.
In receipt of 9lb from the winner Cinderella’s Dream, the three-year-old January was beaten just half a length, adding another top-level placing to her record after taking third in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Despite seeing his 6-4 favourite eclipsed, O’Brien is confident the Kingman filly is on the right track, with the Prix Rothschild at Deauville on August 3 pencilled in as a possible target.
O’Brien said: “She ran a lovely race, she is improving and we think there’s more improvement to come from her.
“She’s a lot of ability this filly and it’s coming. She’s definitely a miler – she’s quick. We’re getting there – she’s slowly getting closer.
“She ran a great race and we think we’re on the right road.
“There’s the fillies’ race in Deauville in a few weeks’ time, so we might look at that for her.”
Connections of Crimson Advocate also hope their filly will eventually strike Group One gold, having seen a length-and-three-quarters defeat of Cinderella’s Dream at Royal Ascot reversed off level weights here.
The John and Thady Gosden-trained runner was beaten two and a quarter lengths on the July course, with Richard Brown, the racing adviser for owners Wathnan Racing, feeling the contest had perhaps not unfolded in her favour.
He said: “There wasn’t a huge amount of early pace and more pace would have meant she could have been snaffled into it a little bit more, but she’s run a very good race.
“We haven’t made any plans, we’ll go away and have a think about it.
“She’s run a great race and I hope she can have her day in one of these (Group Ones).”
Crimson Advocate is entered in both the seven-furlong Lennox Stakes and the mile-and-a-quarter Nassau Stakes at Goodwood later this month and Brown added: “We’ll take her home and see how she comes out of it and then plot for the second half of the season.”
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Aidan O’Brien’s Italy is already prominent in the betting for next season’s Classics after just one run, so a big performance is expected in the bet365 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket.
Two years ago City Of Troy burst into the big-race picture when beating Haatem by over six lengths in this race – and the suggestions are that Italy could produce something similar.
The imposing Wootton Bassett colt eventually got going to win cosily on his debut at Leopardstown from Thesecretadversary, who franked the form by running well in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot.
O’Brien said: “We’re looking forward to him. He’s a lovely horse, we think he’s come forward from his maiden and we’re looking forward to seeing what he’ll do on Saturday.
“The horse that was second to him in Leopardstown was second in Ascot, so hopefully he’ll run well.”
Saba Desert is one of two runners for Charlie Appleby and the once-raced Dubawi colt is the choice of William Buick.
Appleby has won the race five times since 2016, including last year with Ancient Truth.
“He won well at Sandown. It looks a good Superlative and as always it’s full of potential, but he’s a nice horse, he should have improved for Sandown and we’ll know where we are come Saturday afternoon,” said Buick.
“Charlie always earmarks the Superlative as a race where he wants to run his nicer two-year-olds, so it’s not hard to come to a conclusion that he’s one of the nicer ones and he’s only had the one run, so he’s a horse that’s got plenty of improvement left in him.
“He took on experienced horses at Sandown, I thought he did it very well and couldn’t do any more than what he did.
“It looks a substantial field and the winner of the Superlative will always go on to do good things – you usually see them end up in the Dewhurst.”
Wild Desert is Appleby’s other runner, who having won by five lengths on his debut was then beaten under a penalty last time out by another stablemate in Pacific Avenue.
George Boughey’s Moonfall finished behind two other Appleby juveniles on his first two outings before opening his account at Newbury.
Boughey told Star Sports: “The programme fits itself for a horse like him. He’s rated 90, and we’d like to try to turn him into a stakes horse. He could have gone to the nursery at Goodwood, but his work has been very solid.
“He’s a horse who wants seven furlongs and he’s just ready to run again. I thought waiting three weeks for Goodwood was probably too long, so I’m looking forward to seeing him step up in grade here.”
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Cinderella’s Dream emerged best of a three-way battle for Group One honours in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket.
Trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, Cinderella’s Dream needed to reverse Royal Ascot form with her Duke of Cambridge Stakes conqueror Crimson Advocate, while Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-old January provided a fresh test for the Godolphin runner.
Cinderella’s Dream (5-2) looked the have the measure of Crimson Advocate only for January (6-4 favourite) to deliver her challenge, with Buick’s mount battling all the way to the line to prevail by half a length, with a length and three-quarters back to Crimson Advocate in third.
“I did think when she hit the rising ground it would take a tough one to get past her,” said Appleby, who was winning the Falmouth for the first time.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know if she was firing on all cylinders at Ascot. We always look for excuses when we’re beaten so we used the bend and the 3lb penalty, but she’s been round Del Mar and you ain’t going to get many tighter turns than that, so I don’t think we can say going round Ascot was going to be too much of a challenge for her.
“Will was just happy over a mile on a straight track as maybe a mile round a bend is sharp enough.
“She won her maiden at Lingfield and then we went up to Thirsk to win her novice. She’s knee high to a grasshopper but she’s as tough as teak and I’m delighted for her as she’s been so consistent and for her to win a Group One here in Europe is richly deserved.
“We’re very much going to work back from the Breeders’ Cup Filly And Mare Turf. It annoyed me when that got away for us last year, so we’ll go back for a crack at that, how we get there we’ll work that out.”
Buick said: “She’s all class. She’s been unlucky a couple of times, but today she’s put it all together.
“What a game filly she is, it was a ding-dong between two good fillies, it was a good race and she had give the second filly 9lb, it’s never easy.
“I’m just so pleased for her, she’s been a wonderful filly all through and I’m just delighted she’s got a domestic Group One next to her name.”
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Billy Loughnane rode Sayidah Dariyan with plenty of confidence and the filly delivered in style in the William Hill Summer Stakes at York.
The Richard Hughes-trained three-year-old was sent off the 9-4 favourite on the back of her run at Royal Ascot when she was fourth, beaten just over a length, in the Group One Commonwealth Cup.
Dropped in class to a Group Three and back in against her own sex, the 9-4 favourite could be spotted travelling ominously well with two furlongs to run but she had a wall of horses in front of her.
Loughnane managed to weave his way through the pack to take up the running and the race was over in a matter of strides.
Nighteyes, who herself had outrun market expectations in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Ascot, stayed on for a length-and-a-half second, catching the returning Celandine, last year’s Lowther winner who was making her first start of the season.
Loughnane told Racing TV: “Richard told me to be as confident as I could on her as she relaxes lovely behind, she conserves so much energy and she’s got an electric turn of foot when you let her down.
“She ran well at Ascot but I’ll leave future placing to Richard and the team. She’s in great nick and is definitely a filly on the up.
“She’s got the best mind ever. She yawns in the gate and when they open she gets down to it.
“To be honest I’d have liked a smoother passage through, but I just had to wait. It probably did me a favour as it meant I didn’t get there too soon.”
It capped a good 10 minutes for Hughes who also won at Ascot with Sayidah Hard Spun.
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