Middleham trainer Mark Johnston has admitted that his two representatives, Threading and Nyaleti, may be up against it when they take on the brilliant Group 1 Coronation Stakes winner, Alpha Centauri, in the Group 1 Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket’s Adnams July Course on Friday (13th July).
The racing highlight of the second day of the three-day Moët & Chandon July Festival and the fourth of seven races in the Fillies & Mares category of the QIPCO British Champions Series, this £200,000 one mile contest has attracted a top class field of seven runners.
Trained in Ireland by Jessica Harrington, Alpha Centauri broke the Ascot track record by over a second in the Coronation and had earlier lifted the Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas.
She will be reopposed by the Group 2-winning juvenile, Threading, who was six lengths behind her in second in the Coronation having previously landed a York Listed race by an even wider margin.
Johnston also has a useful second string in Nyaleti, herself four and a quarter lengths too good for the opposition when landing the Group 2 German 1000 Guineas on her latest start at Dusseldorf back in May.
The form book would suggest that both Alpha Centauri and Threading should again finish in front of Clemmie, beaten 12 lengths when fifth in the Coronation Stakes. However, victories in both the Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes (sponsored by bet365) on this day 12 months ago and the Group 1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes saw Clemmie crowned last year’s European Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.
The three other declared runners are last year’s third, Arabian Hope; the recent Group 2 Lanwades Stud Stakes winner, Opal Tiara; and the QIPCO 1000 Guineas fifth, Altyn Orda.
A superb field of nine two-year-old fillies will take part in Friday’s other Pattern Race, the six furlong £80,000 Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes (sponsored by bet365).
The line-up is headed by Johnston’s unbeaten Group 3 Albany Stakes winner, Main Edition, and the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes runner-up, Gossamer Wings.
Mark Johnston, trainer of Threading, Nyaleti and Main Edition, said:
“The Coronation Stakes was a great run by Threading, bar the fact that one horse [Alpha Centauri] absolutely trounced her.”
“Arguably things won’t be very different in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes – where if the two of them repeat their Ascot performances Threading will be second again - but I have a principle that I don’t run away from one horse.”
“There is some hope that Threading can improve upon her Ascot effort but the main reason for declaring her is that one should never run away from one horse.”
“It is obviously a concern that Threading’s two worst runs have been at Newmarket, albeit on the Rowley Mile rather than the July Course, and I have no idea why that might be.”
“I don’t think that the form of Nyaleti’s win in the German Guineas was particularly strong and it may have been overrated. That said, I also think that many of Nyaleti’s other performances have been underrated, such as when she beat the Derby winner, Masar, at last year’s Royal Ascot, or when she finished half a length behind another Classic winner, Laurens.”
“I will not be at all surprised if Nyaleti finishes in the first three on Friday and, in the longer term, this race fits nicely into her schedule en route to the Beverly D Stakes [in Chicago on 11th August].”
“Main Edition has done absolutely nothing wrong. As the season progresses, so two-year-olds change but she is entitled to improve as much as any of her rivals and I think they have all got her to beat in the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes.”
