3 minute read
The 1m Group 1 Falmouth Stakes is the headline race on the second day of the July Festival at Newmarket on Friday.
With current favourite Via Sistina preferring softer ground, the changing weather conditions could change the shape of the race.
Via Sistina heads the betting for trainer George Boughey, having won the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes by six lengths on the Rowley Mile on seasonal reappearance.
She stepped up to Group 1 company for the first time when taking the ten furlong Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes over Irish Derby weekend at the Curragh on good ground.
The daughter of Fastnet Rock has never raced over a mile and the shorter distance will certainly be a question mark.
Rain is due at Newmarket on Friday morning which may determine her participation, but the mare is probably opposable based on the sharper test.
Nashwa attempts the mile for the first time since a novice stakes success at Haydock in April 2022.
The Group 1 Nassau Stakes and Prix de Diane winner has probably not been running up to her best in two starts this season, finishing well-beaten in the Group 2 Prix Corrida before a surprise defeat in the Group 3 Hoppings Fillies' Stakes at Newcastle on the all-weather.
A change in trip could spark improvement, but Nashwa hasn't shaped like the drop back to a mile is an obvious solution.
The three-year-old Remarquee caught the eye when winning the Group 3 Fred Darling Stakes on her second career start but failed to fire in the 1000 Guineas and finished fifteenth.
She surprised when bouncing back to the form of her Fred Darling victory with a second in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes, despite losing a left fore shoe.
Despite her impressive CV, the Kingman filly has looked inexperienced at times and she may struggle against more experienced opposition.
Of the top four in the market, Prosperous Voyage makes most appeal. Winner of this race twelve months ago, the four-year-old has enjoyed a good start to the season barring a disappointing run in the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes behind Via Sistina.
She bounced back with a success in the Group 3 Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Epsom Downs and the form of that race was given another boost when second-placed Random Harvest finished runner-up in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Prosperous Voyage finished third in the same race and the return to these conditions should bring out the best in Ralph Beckett's filly.
WIN: PROSPEROUS VOYAGE
