Serenity Prayer bids to confirm the promise of her impressive Newbury debut and provide trainer Andrew Balding with back-to-back wins in the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes at York on Wednesday.
The Kingsclere handler landed the recognised Oaks trial with Secret Satire 12 months ago and will have high hopes of adding to his tally with a Dubawi filly who created a big impression on her introduction in Berkshire last month.
Balding said: “She’s a beautifully bred filly and we were delighted with her on debut when she made her winning start.
“She’s entitled to improve on that form, but obviously she’ll need to do so in a much stronger race.
“We’ve been very happy with her and I’m hoping she can run really well.”
Rest of the Field
Serenity Prayer is one of three unbeaten fillies in a small but select field of six, with Ralph Beckett’s Smoken making her reappearance following successive wins in the autumn and John and Thady Gosden’s Go Go Boots transitioning to turf following a couple of victories on the all-weather at Lingfield.
“Smoken has trained well this spring, she’s ready to go and we’re looking forward to getting her started. She should improve from the run,” Beckett told Tattersalls.
Of Go Go Boots, Thady Gosden said: “She has made good progress since winning under a penalty last time out. We’re looking forward to a first run on turf in a small but competitive renewal of the Musidora.”
Aidan O’Brien won the Musidora for the first time with Snowfall in 2021 and this year relies on Group Three winner Whirl, who needs to raise her game following a slightly underwhelming comeback when sixth in the Park Express Stakes at the Curragh last month.
“We had to give her time to get over that (last run) and then decide where we want to go and the Musidora looked the perfect race if she was going to be an Oaks filly. We always thought she wanted much further than a mile – we always thought that she would stay,” said O’Brien.
Miss Tonnerre
Ed Walker is looking forward to saddling Miss Tonnerre, who was not disgraced in a couple of Group races last season, most notably finishing a close-up fourth behind recent 1000 Guineas heroine Desert Flower in the May Hill at Doncaster.
Walker said: “The filly did very little wrong last year and it was a huge run behind Desert Flower at Doncaster. I said to Tom (Marquand) ‘if she’s good enough, great. If she’s not, don’t give her too hard a time.’ And it was a seriously exciting run.
“She’s done exceptionally well through the winter, I think she’s a really exciting filly and I think she’s going to be very competitive over a mile and a quarter on a nice, flat, galloping track.
“I wouldn’t want the ground too quick, but it should just be lovely ground I think.”
Beckett’s apparent second string Tattycoram completes the line-up.
READ MORE: Dante Festival 2025 – Dates, how to watch on TV, trainers and jockeys to watch
