© Photo Healy Racing
Trainer Ralph Beckett is looking forward to next season after confirming the Irish Oaks heroine You Got To Me has finished her 2024 campaign following her disappointing run in the St Leger.
Having finished fourth in the Oaks at Epsom and the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot, the filly enjoyed her day in the sun when claiming Classic glory at the Curragh in July before finishing a close second to Content in the Yorkshire Oaks the following month.
Alex Elliott on You Got To Me
After being supplemented for the season’s final Classic on Town Moor, the daughter of Nathaniel failed to fire, trailing home last of seven runners – but she is set to return as a four-year-old.
Reflecting on her Doncaster performance, Alex Elliott, racing adviser to part-owners Valmont, said: “I think the main thing for this filly all year has been the pace of the race and they didn’t go quick enough.
“She didn’t really drop the bridle until they turned into the straight and over that trip you just can’t expend any energy, especially at that level.
“She’s been to a lot of dances this year and she’s now finished for the season. She’s back at Newsells Park Stud and will have a good break and we’ll look forward to next year with her.
“If she came right in time, you could probably look at Dubai and then it will be all the good mile-and-a-half races moving forward.”
Another Beckett-trained filly for whom the Valmont team have high hopes is Sandtrap, who justified odds-on favouritism in some style on her racecourse debut at Salisbury earlier this month.
While the daughter of Lope De Vega does not hold any big-race entries at this stage, Elliott would not be against seeing her step up in class before the season is over.
He added: “She has done everything kind of on her own and Ralph has brought her along slow. She’s a May 15 foal and is bred to be a three-year-old really, so for her to go and do that on debut at two was everything we hoped for and more.
“She’s come out of it very well and it’s just a question of whether Ralph runs her again this season or not. I’m not really sure, but the signs are good coming out of the race.
“I suppose all options are open and we’ll let Ralph tell us when he wants to run her and where he wants to run her. If that means going into a stakes race, then so be it – she looked of that ilk when she won, so I don’t think we’d have anything to be afraid of.
“From what she’s shown and the way she’s bred, you’ve got to think she’s got a chance of making up into a high-class filly.”
