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Danielle impresses with maiden victory at Wetherby

The John and Thady Gosden-trained Danielle earnt quotes of 25/1 for the Epsom Oaks with Paddy Power after an impressive maiden victory at Wetherby.

Trainer JOHN GOSDEN (R) and his assistant THADY GOSDEN watch Lord North win the Group 1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes during Day 2 of Royal Ascot in Ascot, England.
Trainer JOHN GOSDEN (R) and his assistant THADY GOSDEN watch Lord North win the Group 1 Prince Of Wales's Stakes during Day 2 of Royal Ascot in Ascot, England. Picture: Getty Images

A half-sister to Ascot Gold Cup winner Courage Mon Ami, the Anthony Oppenheimer-owned filly hit the front at the three-furlong marker in the Burrows Mazda York Fillies' Novice Stakes and scooted clear for a twelve length victory.

Despite suffering defeats on her first two runs, the daughter of Cracksman is clearly improving and her debut third behind Night Raider in December could receive a further boost after the colt's participation in the 2000 Guineas on Saturday.

In an interview with Racing TV, jockey Rab Havlin said: "She ran just over two weeks ago and she's come on plenty since then.

"We thought she'd be a decent filly on turf and we were pretty sure she would handle the (soft) ground, as she's got quite a wide gait on her, as a lot of those Cracksmans have.

"She was still quickening up going through the line, so I was very impressed.

"She handles soft ground very well, I'm not saying she needs soft ground, but she handles it very well.

"She got run down by a filly that had had a run previously (at Chelmsford), so it was a good start-off point, she had a good blow after the race.

"She's improved but she was always going to be a filly that improved markedly when she got on turf.

"She'll stay a mile and a half, no problem. I think that's probably where the boss will be looking to go the next day and let's hope she can keep improving.

"We'll have to see how she comes out of the race, she probably had a harder race at Chelmsford than she did today, but she went through the gears a lot better today and I think if that filly there today had been at Chelmsford, she'd have won quite easily.

"So, I think we'll be looking at mile-and-a-half races now and I'll leave it to the boss to see whether he wants to run her in a trial and where it will be."


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