Bet365 Fillies’ Mile (Group 1)

YLANG YLANG (Aidan O’Brien/Ryan Moore) stayed on best of all to land the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile, providing the Master of Ballydoyle with his sixth win in the event, and reversing recent Rockfel Stakes form with runner-up Shuwari (Ollie Sangster/Tom Marquand), who she beat by half a length after producing a powerful late run having briefly met trouble and been forced to concede first run as the runner-up.

See The Fire (Andrew Balding/Oisin Murphy) set down to battle out the finish in a race set up by the winner’s stablemate Brilliant, who set a strong pace before fading.

The daughter of Frankel was a 9/2 shot after being beaten into third in the Rockfel won by Carla’s Way. Shuwari was over two lengths ahead of her over seven furlongs that day, but the longer distance really seemed to suit Ylang Ylang, who again looked held a furlong out, but found an extra leg in the closing stages. See The Fire travelled best of all, but her stamina began to ebb inside the last furlong, and she faded late to be beaten a length and a quarter in total.

MATILDA Picotte (Kieran Cotter/Oisin Murphy) is in her element in soft ground, and she built on her recent win in the Sceptre Stakes at Doncaster to land a Group 2 Challenge Stakes weakened by the defections of two of the six declared runners.

The winner, who was sent off 2/1 second favourite behind Chindit, typically raced enthusiastically in front, and although getting tired when meeting rising ground, she found the others had all hoisted the white flag before her, with outsider Lord Massusus (Joseph Murphy/Gary Carroll) running on late for second, a respectable two and three-quarter lengths behind the game winner, for whom a trip to the sales may be under review.

Cotter said: “I was a bit concerned she might falter in the last 100 yards, but she’s so much pace and she’s so genuine and they have to work hard to get to her. Her last couple of runs have been outstanding. I’ve been saying to the lads for a while that you wouldn’t see the best of her until the back end of her three-year-old season and she’s just got better and better.

“Oisin said today he was going too fast, and she was aggressive early, but you can’t fight her, he just lets her roll and she’s incredibly tough. It’s fantastic as we’re showing that if we have the right one, we can turn up on the day and take the money. It’s fantastic to be able to come to a racecourse like this and compete – we’re privileged to have her.

“I don’t know if she’ll run again this year. There is the Breeders’ Cup, who knows? There’ll be a lot of races for her next year, if we have her. I think she has an entry in the sales, but the lads were saying if she won well today, they might keep her.”

THE Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes – sponsored by the Newmarket Academy Godolphin Beacon Project – saw a couple of withdrawals on account of the ground which had tuned soft after heavy overnight rain, but Kevin Philippart de Foy kept his nerve and allowed Inquisitively (William Buick) to take his chance despite the colt having previously been withdrawn due to ground concerns, and his decision was justified as the son of Ten Sovereigns made most to score by a length and a half and half a length from Rosario (Roger Teak/George Rooke) and Unbreak My Heart (Clive Cox/John Fahy).

The 10/3 second favourite seemed to cope well enough with conditions, but he also showed himself to be more straightforward than the runner-up, who cause traffic problems as he hung sharply right in the closing stages. Originally bought out of the Ollie Sangster yard to race in Hong Kong, he was working too well at home not to race according to his trainer. His future depends on the wishes of owner Wee Sean Gan, but a trip to the Breeders’ Cup hasn’t been ruled out.

FOR a man having a terrible season, Charlie Appleby is training plenty of winners, and he gained further black-type success as 4/1 chance Dance Sequence landed the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes despite displaying clear signs of greenness.

Outpaced after becoming unbalanced entering the dip, she soon regained her momentum and swept by in the last few yards to beat favourite Skellet (Ralph Beckett/Ryan Moore) by a neck. Star Music (Richard Hughes/James Doyle) was three lengths adrift in third of the seven runners.

The winner had been off since making a winning debut here in early July, and showed improvement here, with the soft ground seeming to suit her, even if she’s not yet the finished article. First put under pressure before putting in a strong last quarter mile. Her trainer suggested her next run may well come in a 1000 Guineas trial next spring.

Captain Teague pleases

THE Group 2 Persian War Novices’ Hurdle went to the promising Captain Teague (Paul Nicholls/Harry Cobden) despite a rather mixed round of jumping. Third in the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham in March, Captain Teague was made a 5/6 favourite to make a winning start over timber, and warmed to his task as the race wore on, moving through on the bridle early in the straight and cruising clear to beat Resplendent Grey (Ollie Murphy/Sean Bowen) by nine and a half lengths, with the runner-up edging out Rock House (Dan/Harry Skelton) by a head for second.

The son of Doyen will need to improve his jumping if he’s to hit the weights over hurdles, but he was beating some promising and experienced rivals on what was his debut in the sphere, so it seems churlish to crab his technique too much.