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Aidan O’Brien’s filly steps up to a mile and a quarter for the first time in the Group 1 Nassau Stakes.
Team Ballydoyle will be hoping to see their high-class filly Opera Singer get back to winning ways in the ten-furlong Group 1 Nassau Stakes (10f) at Glorious Goodwood on Thursday.
An impressive winner on quick ground over a mile in the Group 1 Prix Marcel-Boussac (8f) on Arc Day at Longchamp in October, the beautifully-bred daughter of Justify has run well in defeat on both outings this campaign, finishing third in the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas (8f) on her reappearance in May, before filling the runner-up spot behind subsequent Group 1 Falmouth Stakes (8f) scorer Porta Fortuna in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes (8f) at Royal Ascot in June.
Connections now step her up to ten furlongs for the first time, a test regular rider Ryan Moore is hoping she will appreciate. "She is another of ours stepping up 2f, and we think she could relish it," Moore told Betfair.
He added: "She was a highly impressive winner of the Boussac last season, she probably at least ran up to that level in defeat at Royal Ascot last time, and this Justify filly can hopefully step it up another level over this 1m2f trip."
Paddy Power make Opera Singer a 5/2 chance to regain the winning thread, with John and Thady Gosden's Emily Upjohn, who was supplemented at a cost £40,000, heading the market at 9/4.
Moore said: "Emily Upjohn is obviously a serious threat, but I like to think Opera Singer is the one to beat. She still has plenty of upside, I feel."
Another who will be tackling the ten-furlong trip for the first time will be Roger Varian's Group 1 1000 Guineas (8f) heroine Elmalka and the Carlburg House-based handler, who lost the Group 3 Oak Tree Stakes (7f) following a lengthy stewards' enquiry yesterday, is also expecting his filly to improve for the step up in trip.
"I think we can really say she wants this step up in trip after the Ascot run, after Newmarket although it looked like she needed every yard to get up, it was only her third start. She was always going to be sharper for that run," said Varian.
"We ran her over a mile again in the Coronation Stakes and she ran very well. It was just a different set-up and different test from what the 1000 Guineas was. That day I thought she'd be more comfortable going a mile and a quarter."
The Patrice Cottier-trained French raider Sparkling Plenty adds international spice as she attempts to make it back-to-back top-level successes following her narrow triumph in the Group 1 Prix de Diane (11f) at Chantilly in June.
