York Wednesday

FRANKIE Dettori’s farewell tour seems scripted for Hollywood.

After taking the 2000 Guineas, the Italian seems to have unearthed a genuine Betfred Oaks contender as John and Thady Gosden’s Soul Sister took the Group 2 Musidora Stakes in a style that saw her odds slashed dramatically from 50/1 to just 4/1 for Epsom.

The daughter of Frankel was well beaten in the Fred Darling Stakes at Newbury last month, but looked a different proposition upped in trip on quicker ground here, unleashing a power-packed finish on the outside of rivals up the straight to win the Wednesday feature by four lengths at generous odds of 18/1.

Novakai (Karl Burke/Clifford Lee) - second to the winner’s now-retired stablemate Commissioning in the Fillies’ Mile - shaded second by half a length from Infinite Cosmos (Sir Michael Stoute/Richard Kingscote). With that pair dominating the betting, it’s hard to crab the performance of the winner, who had won her only start as a juvenile at a mile, and probably found the Fred Darling coming too soon, and over too short a trip for her.

John Gosden said: “Lady Bamford won this with Star Of Seville, so I was keen to run to see what we had. I didn’t expect her to win by four lengths but I did think she’d definitely be in the three. It’s wonderful for an owner-breeder to win a race like this.

“Frankie thinks she should run in the Oaks, so we will. She’s trained very well for this. I’d explained to Lady Bamford we needed to find out what we had and I knew the trip and ground would improve her.

“Recently she’s really come to herself. A lot of fillies have struggled this year with the cold and wet spring. She’s really bloomed in her coat and shown her class today. I’ll talk to Oisin again, but I think we’ll have Running Lion in the Oaks as well. At this moment we’ve got two lovely fillies.”

Karl Burke, trainer of Novakai and Richard Fahey, who saddled fourth-placed Midnight Mile, both nominated the Prix de Diane at Chantilly for their fillies rather than the Oaks, and both are entitled to come on for the run after an absence, shaping well.

MICHAEL Dods has a remarkable knack with sprint fillies, with the likes of Mecca’s Angel and Mabs Cross scoring at the highest level, and he has uncovered another fine prospect in Azure Blue (Paul Mulrennan) following up her listed win at Newmarket by landing the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes after a battle with superstar mare Highfield Princess (John Quinn/Jason Hart). The younger filly - a 12/1 chance upped in grade - got on top late to win by half a length, with the winner’s stablemate Commanche Falls (Connor Beasley) a further length and a quarter away in third.

The pace was strong, with Art Power typically blazing a trail before tiring, and Highfield Princess travelled notably well, but she was without a prep run this season, and that may have made the difference between her and a race-fit rival at the top of her game.

Marshman was sent off favourite at 85/40, and fared better than the bare result, starting awkwardly before making easy headway on the far side of the track before his run petered out.

He’s clearly trained on well on this evidence, and is likely to be all the better for the run, looking a big player in the Commonwealth Cup if improving as expected for the outing.

The race was marred by a fatal injury suffered by Creative Force after two furlongs. The five-year-old had won the Group 1 British Champions Sprint Stakes in 2021, one of seven wins in a career marked by great consistency.

Azure Blue is not entered in either the King’s Stand or the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, but Dods – who gained consecutive wins in the Nunthorpe with Mecca’s Angel – suggested that supplementing her wasn’t out of the question, calling her a “proper Group 1 horse”.

“I don’t know where we’ll go now,” he added. “Because today was the start of her career, really, in these races. We hadn’t made any plans and didn’t have her in some of the early-closing races.

“I wouldn’t be frightened to come back to five furlongs with her on slow ground, so there’s plenty of targets for her and a lot to look forward to.”