British Champions Day: Fillies' And Mares' Stakes

Events / Timeform / 14 October 2011 / Leave a Comment

Dancing Rain could be an under-rated quantity at Ascot

"Dual Oaks heroine Dancing Rain is also prominent in the betting for Saturday and she is available to back at [6.8] for the end-of-season contest, a fair price considering her Epsom heroics earlier in the year..."

Vita Nova, Crystal Capella and Oaks winner Dancing Rain will all line up in Saturday's Fillies' and Mares' Stakes at Ascot..

Vita Nova arguably sets the standard for this contest and is currently trading as favourite, available to back at odds of [4.1]. She has shown her very best over the one-and-a-half-mile trip already this year when finishing second behind Blue Bunting in the Yorkshire Oaks back in August.

She did well on that occasion, pulling clear with the eventual winner, without ever really looking like taking victory for herself, and a reproduction of that level of form would be enough to take the majority of fillies' pattern races, including this one.

Finishing behind Vita Nova on that occasion was Crystal Capella, who put in a laboured performance, having her third start in six weeks, able to finish only a distant fourth having been off the bridle for much of the way.

Prior to that Crystal Capella had landed the Princess of Wales' Stakes at Newmarket by an impressive eight lengths, but although she had looked destined for the top based on that performance, she hasn't managed to reproduce anything close since and, with the benefit of hindsight, it seems that the Newmarket run may have flattered her to a certain degree.

Dual Oaks heroine Dancing Rain is also prominent in the betting for Saturday and she is available to back at [6.8] for the end-of-season contest, a fair price considering her Epsom heroics earlier in the year.

She was no doubt aided by tactics in the Oaks, but was nevertheless a good winner, doing well to hold off the challenge of Wonder of Wonders late on and rallying under pressure for Johnny Murtgah in the closing stages.

She has since been beaten by Blue Bunting in the Irish equivalent, but put that behind her when landing the German Fillies' middle-distance classic over at Dusseldorf on her latest start. She is in receipt of a weight-for-age allowance and cannot be ruled out.

Also worth noting is Ferdoos, who already claimed the scalp of Vita Nova earlier in the season before a minor setback has ruled her out of running since. She will be back on Saturday, however, and with the form shown by Vita Nova in defeat to Ferdoos of similar level to the level shown behind Blue Bunting, Ferdoos should have outstanding claims if able to overcome her spell on the sidelines.

Click here to see the latest odds for the Fillies' and Mares' Stakes

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