3 minute read
Gosden’s filly hands Frankel with his 53rd stakes winner
The familiar party of trainer John Gosden, jockey Frankie Dettori and owner Anthony Oppenheimer teamed up for the second successive year to win the Ribblesdale Stakes (Gr 2, 1m4f) at Royal Ascot on Tuesday as Frankly Darling (3 f ex Hidden Hope by Daylami) soared up straight to win the Group 2 and in the process handed Juddmonte Farms’ Frankel (Galileo) with his 53rd stakes winner.
The daughter of Frankel (Galileo) had put daylight between her and rest of the field, and by the time Ennistymon (Galileo) and Passion (Galileo) made chase it was too late, with the filly crossing the line a length and three quarters ahead of Ennistymon, while Passion was another two and a half lengths adrift in third.
Gosden, Dettori and Oppenheimer won last year’s edition of the Ribblesdale Stakes with Star Catcher (Sea The Stars) - which signalled the beginning of a trio of Group 1 wins, including the Irish Oaks (Gr 1, 1m4f) and Gosden - who was recording his 50th Royal Ascot success - now has his sights set on the British equivalent with Frankly Darling.
"Any time you have a winner here - I can remember during this week scrambling one winner, one year having no winners, having six seconds and finally a winner one year,” said Gosden. “Look, it is not an easy place to win races - as you saw in the Queen Anne.
"Frankly Darling is a lovely filly. She ran only once last year, at Chelmsford. She was a big, rangy girl and a bit unfurnished who needed time to develop. We got a run in and she ran well, and of course she would have gone to the April meeting at Newbury and run in a mile and a quarter fillies' maiden there and then gone to an Oaks trial, then maybe gone to the Oaks. Obviously that all changed. She luckily got in on the first day at Newcastle - they divided a maiden, so she got to run on June 1 and won well.
“She's still learning; as you can see, she was a little wild, there's a bit of Frankel about her - 'I want to run and it's my business if I want to run, not the jockey's' - but she showed an awful lot of class today.
"I don't think I am spoilt for choice for the Oaks. If I have an Oaks filly, it's her. Miss Yoda ran well, but she showed the effect - you are going to get some horses 'bounce' here. She had a hard race in the Lingfield Oaks and to come here, she's done nothing wrong but has run flat.
"She will be freshened up now, but she's a Listed winner, which is fantastic. I think we have one Oaks filly only and we don't have anything remotely related to a Derby horse. That is the way it is.”
Gosden was quick to bring attention to the struggles many people have been dealt with in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It is Royal Ascot. I think it is a huge achievement. This country and many countries in the world have suffered horribly from this sinister disease; it has been devastating. Everything that people are going through, let alone the destruction of our economies and people losing jobs; it is a worldwide problem. So, to be able to come here in this very large amphitheatre in the fresh air, biosecurity - everything's very tightly run, we are cleaning our hands all the time. It is a very safe place to be and it's lovely to put on top-quality sport with the best racehorses in Europe, great athletes and great jockeys. We understand that it is a financial blow for the racecourses, but we are putting a show on and it's great that it's going out."
The filly is impeccably bred, being out of Cheshire Oaks (Listed, 1m3.5f) winner Hidden Hope (Daylami), who is also the dam of fellow Listed winner Our Obsession (Shamardal).
Hidden Hope is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Mystic Knight (Caerleon) and 1997 Coronation Stakes (Gr 1, 1m) winner Rebecca Sharp (Machiavellian), the dam of Listed winner Miss Pinkerton (Danehill), who in turn produced Bronte Cup (Gr 3, 1m6f) winner Precious Ramotswe (Nathaniel).
Hidden Hope is herself a half-sister to Fleche d'Or (Dubai Destination) - the dam of middle distance star Golden Horn (Cape Cross), who was raced by Oppenheimer.
The filly is bred on the same cross that produced 2019 St Leger (Gr 1, 1m6f) winner and Frankly Darling’s stablemate Logician and one further stakes winner and could possibly stay even further in time.
Wow! Frankel filly Frankly Darling powers to Ribblesdale glory under @FrankieDettori for John Gosden@Ascot #RoyalAscot pic.twitter.com/wNcV0VGPq9
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 16, 2020
