Gilt Edge Girl had the plum draw in stall 1 when winning the Prix De L'Abbaye on Sunday and she took full advantage of it on the very soft ground, which her trainer said afterwards she loved and it was a very big factor in her success. She was always well placed on the rail and skipped round the weakening Moorhouse lad with a couple of furlongs to go and maintained her lead to the line from Lady of the Desert who was also drawn low in stall 3. Being by Monsieur Bond (6th in 2000 Guineas)she was always likely to be suited by soft ground and her win completed a good weekend for her sire, who also had the winner of the big 2yo sprint at Redcar on Saturday Ladies are Forever.
Lady of the Desert may have found the race coming a bit too soon after her win at Ascot the previous weekend and this trip of just short of 5f was probably too sharp for her, so she did well considering. She is now to be aimed at a purely sprint campaign next year according to Brian Meehan her trainer and only having had 11 races to date she remains open to improvement over her ideal trip of 6f.
The French pair Mar Adentro and Marchand D'or both finished to some effect weaving their way through the beaten horses and coming from stalls 18 and 14 they both deserve plaudits for managing to get so close as it was not the best going to be making up ground. Mar Adentro is only a 4yo and has only had 15 races to date so he is one you should keep in mind for next years race with a better draw and on better going. Marchand D'or seems to have been around forever but he too is lightly raced considering he is a 7yo and he has only ran 31 times.
Picadilly Filly drawn 17 and Total Gallery drawn 16 were two more that were making progress from the back as the race reached its climax and both should be kept in mind for next season, the latter has had a lacklustre year considering he won this last term and a new season may bring about a change of luck. Picadilly Filly is only 3 and having only had 11 races to date she can improve on this seasons consistent runs.
The race was run in a time of 57.00secs and all of the horses mentioned above had no trouble with the going and can be followed on a similar surface in future with confidence.
