Diadem on Desert agenda

Lady Of The Desert will bid to open her account for the campaign at Ascot later this month following her fantastic effort in Saturday’s Betfred Sprint Cup.

Brian Meehan’s filly was considered a realistic contender for Classic honours at the start of the year but after failing to find the target over a mile, she dropped back to six furlongs at Haydock.

It was clearly a good move as she put up a career-best effort to finish second to Markab and the John Guest Diadem Stakes on September 26 is her next objective.

Bruce Raymond, racing manager for owner Jaber Abdullah, said: “We were more than delighted with her. It was a really fantastic run against those seasoned colts and geldings.

“Dropping back to six furlongs obviously helped her and she has got bags of speed.

“It was a little unfortunate that they split either side of the track. It didn’t make the difference between winning and losing but she might have been a shade closer to the winner.

“She seems to have come out of it well and her next start will probably be in the Diadem at Ascot.”