Tag Archive for: Marygate Fillies’ Stakes

Persian Dreamer heads Amo’s Marygate charge

Amo Racing have been in blistering form in two-year-old contests this term and hold an ultra-strong hand in the Clipper EBF Marygate Fillies’ Stakes that kicks off the action at York on Friday.

Two Dominic Ffrench Davis-trained runners feature in this Listed event, with Persian Dreamer leading the charge on the back of a blistering display at Newmarket on debut and Nottingham scorer Treasure Storm providing able support.

Three fillies have done the Marygate/Queen Mary double in the past and this could prove the perfect stepping stone to Royal Ascot for Persian Dreamer, who is not only of warm order for this contest, but also the market leader for the Queen Mary itself.

“We think Persian Dreamer is a very classy filly and I think she has a standout chance in the race,” said Ffrench Davis.

“There are one or two obvious dangers. I think the Richard Hannon horse (Gaiden) will come on a lot for her debut at Windsor, she looked a nice type there and we have a little bit of a line through the form with Always Love You who was fourth that day.

“She was very impressive at Newmarket and has come on well since then. We are looking towards Ascot with her but this is a stepping stone and hopefully she can get the job done.”

He went on: “Treasure Storm has done nothing wrong. She was a little bit green on her first start and then improved on that to win at Nottingham, but we don’t think she is in the same league as Persian Dreamer. We would love it if she could run into a place.”

Treasure Storm takes the opening EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes at Nottingham
Treasure Storm takes the opening EBF Fillies’ Novice Stakes at Nottingham (PA)

Karl Burke saddled the one-two in this 12 months ago and saddles two classy prospects as he attempts to repeat the dose.

One of the Spigot Lodge duo is the Middleham Park Racing-owned Got To Love A Grey who created a deep impression when scorching to a six-length success at Nottingham last month.

“She was very impressive at Nottingham, she was drawn out wide there and did everything Sam (James, jockey) asked of her and and was very impressive at the end,” said Middleham Park’s Mike Prince.

“It’s a sharp five furlongs at York and we do think she will step up to six furlongs at some point. It looks a very warm race with some decent fillies in it – I think it’s a very decent renewal and a strong affair.

“It’s interesting because it’s probably the first two-year-old race for the fillies that brings all the form lines together, so it will be interesting to see who is on the right form lines, but she couldn’t have done any more at Nottingham and hopefully goes there with every chance.”

Meanwhile, stablemate Dorothy Lawrence represents last year’s winning owners Clipper Logistics, but has just over three lengths to find with Persian Dreamer from when they met on the Rowley Mile earlier in the campaign.

Ryan Moore takes over in the saddle now and told Betfair: “I think she probably bumped into a good one when beaten at Newmarket last month, but she clearly shaped very well there and hopefully she can improve a good deal for it.”

Rod Milman’s Beenham built on her debut at Bath when accounting for a decent cast at Goodwood recently, while Richard Hannon’s Gaiden bumped into a useful looking rival when runner-up at Windsor and can be expected to take a step forward now.

Similar sentiments also apply to Tierney who finished an encouraging fourth when pitched into the Lily Agnes at Chester for her first start and trainer Hugo Palmer is keen to see if the speedy daughter of Mehmas can better that first racecourse effort on ground which will suit his filly much better this time.

He said: “She’s very much a filly for the here and now, she’s a speedy filly.

“She ran really well in the Lily Agnes taking on unpenalised winners, so it was a really good effort.

“The ground was much too soft for her at Chester, but I thought she ran a really encouraging race, although she will obviously need to step forward on that in stakes company.”

Bellarchi (Grant Tuer), Callianassa (Brian Ellison) and Miss Woo Woo (Robert Cowell) complete the field of 10.