Hollie Doyle can't wait for her Qatar Nassau Stakes reunion with Nashwa, on whom she enjoyed yet another significant career 'first' in last month's Prix de Diane Hermes at Chantilly.
As the beaten favorite in a Newmarket novice on her sole start as a 2-year-old, Nashwa was not an obvious candidate for Classic success, but Doyle liked her from the moment she first sat on her and the pair have developed a special relationship.
John and Thady Gosden's daughter of Frankel is the most exciting filly Doyle has been associated with to date, her only defeat in four starts this year having been over a trip which stretched her when third in the Cazoo Oaks. She will understandably start firmly odds on in a field of nine for Thursday's Group 1, a part of the 35-race QIPCO British Champions Series which showcases the UK's finest Flat races.
Doyle had no simple task tactically and had to be more positive on Nashwa than usual from stall 2 in a field of 17 in the Diane, a race which was also won by the 2020 Nassau Stakes winner Fancy Blue.
Doyle explained: “It was quite a challenge from the draw she had but I knew what I wanted to do and how the French ride, and so I was able to be a bit cheekier than I might have been at home. Over there you have to be two lengths clear before you can cross over, and I used that to my advantage.
“I got a prominent position and held it, knowing that they would have to work really hard if they were to come around me and go two lengths clear. I was happy doing what I wanted to do and it worked out well.”
She added: “Winning the Prix de Diane on Nashwa was one of the very best days I've had in the saddle. As my first Classic winner it was huge. Just amazing. I've ridden a few winners over in France but that was a different class.
“Nashwa is just unreal and she's getting better and better. Every time I sit on her between races she's improved again. I rode a piece of work on her last week which was very similar to the work we did before France and she's bigger and stronger once again, and better than ever.
“There's no reason she shouldn't handle Goodwood. Although I did feel she was a bit weak on the track at Epsom in the Oaks, that was still early in her career and she handled it, although it wasn't ideal. She was beaten more by the trip than the track, and Goodwood shouldn't be a problem.”
Doyle's husband Tom Marquand is seeking a first Goodwood Group 1 success on the second favorite Lilac Road, whose trainer William Haggas has a particularly strong team of fillies.
Haggas said: “Lilac Road was a Group 2 winner at York in May in the Middleton and the only reason she hasn't run since is that there aren't many races for fillies when they've won their Group 2. There's only really the Pretty Polly, in which we ran two others. Also it was soft ground, which she doesn't want.
“She's fine and she's working nicely. She's fresh and well and she's in good shape. She'll run a good race, but whether she's quite up to that class we'll find out on Thursday.”
Dreamloper was down the field in the Pretty Polly Stakes but had Lilac Road back in fifth when a Group 2 winner at Newmarket on her reappearance, after which she gained a first Group 1 win in the Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp.
Her trainer Ed Waker can explain the disappointing run in Ireland and he believes that the filly, on whom Kieran Shoemark is seeking to follow up last year's win on Lady Bowthorpe, ought to be second favourite.
Walker said: “The ground was the problem at the Curragh last time, and also she got a bit crowded, which made her a bit keen. Keenness has always been a bit of a thing for her but she's been quite good this year. On that ground though Kieran said she was wheelspinning. We can put a line through that and she ought to be second favourite, as last time we met Lilac Road in the Dahlia we beat her, and we've won a Group 1 since then.
“The win in the Prix d'Ispahan was great. It was really quick ground there – I walked the track and there's no way it was the good to soft that they were calling it. – but she settled great that day. When she settles she has a deadly turn of foot, and the faster the ground the better.”
Aidan O'Brien's four Nassau Stakes winners were all already Classic winners, but this year's representative Concert Hall has yet to win anything better than a Group 3. She has been running well at a very high level however, most recently in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes, and wears cheekpieces for the first time.
O'Brien said: “She ran a good race in America and finished fourth. She's also run in the Irish Guineas, the Oaks and the Pretty Polly and she always seems to run a good race.”
Also challenging from Ireland is Curragh Group 2 third One For Bobby, on whom Frankie Dettori will be teaming up with his old friend Johnny Murtagh, who rode the O'Brien winners Peeping Fawn (2007) and Halfway To Heaven (2008).
Sir Michael Stoute, the last of whose record seven Nassau wins was back in 2004, runs Ville De Grace, whose form is closely linked to Lilac Road and Dreamloper. Ville De Grace beat Lilac Road in the Pride Stakes at Newmarket in October but was only fourth behind her in the Middleton Stakes. In between she was beaten a nose by Dreamloper in the Dahlia Stakes.
The field is completed by Middleton Stakes runner-up Aristia, York Listed winner Fonteyn and Lingfield Oaks Trial winner Rogue Millennium.
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