Music set to put on another winning show
Criquette Head’s filly earned her place at the head of the market when claiming the scalp of previously unbeaten colt Siyouni in the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin at Maisons Laffitte last July.
She was beaten just a short neck behind Arcano (Canford Cliffs a neck further back in third) when next seen but finished off her juvenile season with a very easy victory in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket. Her two-year-old form is the best in this race but she was a modest third behind compatriot Joanna on her seasonal and there are enough doubts about her to pass over her at the price.
The Marcus Tregoning trained Rumoush is seeking to record a family double after her half-sister, Ghanaati, won the race last year. The former was a very easy winner of the Listed Feilden Stakes here a couple of weeks ago but that race was over a furlong further than she’ll tackle here. She appeared to really stretch out to the line on that occasion and is likely to be better over even further. She’s got a Classic pedigree and cannot be dismissed lightly but her best days may come later in the season.
Aidan O’Brien’s Devoted To You was a decent, if unspectacular, two-year-old, where her form included a second placed finish behind stable-companion Lillie Langtry in the Group 2 Debutante Stakes. She made her seasonal debut on soft ground at the Curragh on the opening day of the season where she was touched off by four-year-old filly Pollen.
She appeared to appreciate the step up to a mile for the first time as she and the winner pulled clear of the field. It’s incidental that she would likely have won had her jockey not carried a couple of pounds overweight and, as has been the case with the early runners from the O’Brien stable, she should have progressed markedly for the outing. She’s the selected of Ballydoyle’s entries and is certainly worth a second glance at a very big price.
Much appears to have been read into Kieren Fallon’s decision to ride Seta in preference to Music Show but I’m sure that’s more to do with loyalty to the trainer than the ability of the respective fillies. On the track, the rejected Nell Gwyn winner Music Show has unquestionably achieved more.
She and Blue Maiden were both inconvenienced by the running of the afore-mentioned Nell Gwyn stakes but they came clear of the other runners and, with the winner giving 3lbs to the runner-up, she should, at the very least, maintain her level of superiority tomorrow. She’s a filly that will relish the step up to a mile for the first time and I can’t help but think she was a rather more comfortable winner of that Nell Gwyn than the distance implies.
She doesn’t have the scope of many of her rivals who may progress past her as the season unwinds but Mick Channon’s filly is fully tuned for this assignment and she can gain the day at the expense of lively outsider Devoted To You.
