Scenic © Photo Healy Racing
Ed Walker steps ups his impressive York scorer Scenic for the Betfred Park Hill Fillies’ Stakes at Doncaster on Thursday.
After opening her account on her seasonal debut at Kempton in the spring, the daughter of Lope De Vega was well held in a Group Three at Haydock and a Listed event at Pontefract, but fared better when stepped up to just shy of two miles at Deauville in July — beaten only a neck into third place.
The four-year-old dropped back to a mile and a half for the Galtres Stakes on the Knavesmire last month and charged home off a fast pace to win comprehensively, earning her a shot at Group Two honours on day one of the St Leger Festival.
Walker said: “I think she’s in good nick, it probably comes a little bit sooner than ideal but she seems very well and looks great.
“We’re hopeful of a big run and I think stepping back up in trip to one-mile-six (furlongs) will actually suit her better than a mile and a half, so it’s really exciting.
“Oisin Murphy gave her a great ride at York — he was very patient and they went very hard. She may have been flattered a little bit, but we’ll see. She’ll run her race anyway.”
Tom Marquand takes over in the saddle aboard Scenic, with Murphy jumping ship to partner Night Sparkle for Andrew Balding.
Night Sparkle disappointed in this race 12 months ago on what was her first start for the Balding team, but has run several good races in defeat this season — filling the runner-up spot in the Coral Marathon and the Lillie Langtry Stakes before placing fourth behind Vauban in York’s Lonsdale Cup.
“She’s been training really well and I thought I hit the front a bit too soon on her at York last time,” said Murphy.
“It looks a decent opportunity for her, she’s one of the top-rated horses.
“I thought Mistral Star and Scenic both deserve to be spoken about, as Mistral Star has been running in decent races and Scenic was good at York, but it would mean a lot to me if I could win on Night Sparkle.”
The Hughie Morrison-trained Mistral Star was also in action at York’s Ebor meeting, finishing fourth in the Yorkshire Oaks, and is now stepped up to a mile and three-quarters for the first time.
Morrison said: “I hope she’ll stay. There aren’t any Group races over a mile and a half and at this time of year, you’ve slightly got to go when you can.
“She didn’t like the ground at Ayr and she was unlucky at Haydock earlier in the year. She won well at Newmarket and ran well at York, so hopefully we’ve got a good chance.”
Paul and Oliver Cole’s Sumo Sam was an impressive winner of the Park Hill last season and has been declared to defend her crown.
However, conditions are unlikely to be as testing this time around and connections plan to walk the track before confirming her participation.
“We’re going to look at the ground in the morning and see if it’s alright for her. If it’s not, we’ll go to Salisbury on Friday. She’s in amazing form,” said Oliver Cole.
Oxford Comma is an interesting contender for Ralph Beckett, stepping up in class after back-to-back novice wins at Salisbury and at this venue in May and June respectively.
“Her absence has not been due to anything untoward, it’s just circumstances have conspired against us really,” said Alex Elliott, racing adviser to Valmont, who own the filly in partnership with Ballylinch Stud.
“She wouldn’t want fast ground and we’ve just had to wait. When she won her novice at Doncaster previously, we thought she might be a Park Hill filly and we would have liked to get a run into her in between, it just hasn’t happened for her.
“It will be a big ask for her jumping up in grade but she’s a filly we really like and we think she will be even better next year. We will find out a bit more about her on Thursday.”
