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Meeznah is on a recovery mission in the £80,000 Group Two DFS Park Hill Stakes (3pm) following a below-par run last time but trainer David Lanigan is hopeful the filly will show her true colours at Doncaster on Thursday, September 8, in a race that has been at the top of her agenda all year.
Lanigan's charge, one of seven runners declared for the prestigious contest, the highlight of DFS Ladies Day, is already tried and tested over the extended mile and six furlongs of the DFS Park Hill Stakes, often referred to as the “Fillies' St Leger”, having crossed the line third behind Eastern Aria in last year's renewal
The Dynaformer four-year-old, second past the post in the 2010 Group One Investec Oaks, disappointed connections on her most recent outing when a distant seventh behind Ladbrokes St Leger hope Census in the Group Three Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury on August 13.
Meeznah previously showed her quality with a two and a half-length success over Shankardeh in the Group Three Lillie Langtry Stakes at Glorious Goodwood in July.
Lanigan revealed today: “Meeznah seems fine and nothing came to light after Newbury other than the ground was loose and she didn't seem to handle it very well - Frankie was never happy with her on that ground. We freshened her up and gave her a full check up and nothing else came to light.
“She seems well and worked fine on Saturday, so we will see. It is a race that we have planned all year for her so hopefully it was just the ground at Newbury.
“They are calling the ground at Doncaster good to firm at the moment and they got about a millimetre of rain last night, so I would prefer the less rain the better. It is in the lap of the Gods but I wouldn't really want it to go good to soft or anything like that.
“She is a good staying filly and we have freshened her up to build her up for this - hopefully her run last time was just too bad to be true.”
Meeznah faces stiff competition with the Queen's progressive Set To Music also in the seven-strong line-up. The Michael Bell-trained three-year-old is chasing a five-timer and was impressive when winning the Listed EBF “Selkirk” Galtres Stakes at York on August 18.
That victory came over 12 furlongs and saw the Danehill Dancer filly draw clear of the Richard Fahey-trained runner-up Cracking Lass, third placed Polly's Mark from the Clive Cox stable and Spin.
A fantastic renewal of the DFS Park Hill Stakes sees three runners from Ireland in the Dermot Weld-trained Sense Of Purpose, Goldplated from John Murphy's stable and the aforementioned Aidan O'Brien-trained Spin.
Sense of Purpose has displayed high class form this year and, after winning a mile and three-quarter Listed contest at Leopardstown in July, she took the 12-furlong Group Three Ballyroan Stakes at the same venue on August 4.
Goldplated has progressed markedly through the season and will be having her 10th start of the campaign on Thursday. The Selkirk filly has won four of her last five starts, most recently a mile and a half premier handicap at Leopardstown on September 3. Currently rated 91, the DFS Park Hill Stakes will be Goldplated's first start in Pattern company.
The entertaining seven-race card at Doncaster on DFS Ladies Day, day two of the four-day Ladbrokes St Leger Festival, also features the £50,000 Group Three Japan Racing Association Sceptre Stakes (1.55pm) for fillies and mares over seven furlongs, which has 11 declared runners headed by the Sir Henry Cecil-trained Chachamaidee, who saw off the William Haggas-trained Dever Dream to win the Group Three Oak Tree Stakes at Glorious Goodwood in July.
Others of note in the high-quality field are the Ian Williams-trained Jacqueline Quest, disqualified from first place in the 2010 Group One 1,000 Guineas, the John Oxx-trained dual Listed race winner Alanza, the Luca Cumani-trained Seta, Rimth from the Paul Cole yard and the Marco Botti-trained Magic Eye.
The day's most lucrative race is the extended six-furlong Weatherbys Insurance £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes (2.25pm), which carries total prize money of £421,500 and has a maximum field of 22 runners, among them the Kevin Ryan-trained Bogart, winner of the DBS Premier Yearling Stakes at York on August 18.
The other races on the ultra competitive card are the £30,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Carrie Red Nursery (1.25pm), the £11,500 Crown-Bawtry.com EBF Green Desert Maiden Stakes (3.35pm), the £13,000 Elements Medispa Handicap (4.10pm) and the concluding £25,000 DFS Handicap (4.40pm).
