28th-Sept-2019

I am taking a chance on Millisle in the Cheveley Park Stakes at a decent price.

Jessica Harrington’s filly has been progressive all season.  She stayed on strongly to win a listed race over five furlongs on soft ground at The Curragh in August, and she stepped forward from that last time to finish second to Dark Lady in the Group 3 Dick Poole Stakes at Salisbury last time.

Two things about that run.  Firstly, she had to undergo a blood test before the race, and her trainer said afterwards that it might have had a negative impact on her.  And secondly, she raced prominently at a fast pace.  Dark Lady got a nice tow into the race.

She only went down by a short head to Dark Lady, and the pair of them pulled nicely clear.  It was a fine run in the circumstances.  She is a bigger price than Dark Lady today, but she has every chance of reversing places with Richard Hannon’s filly.  And her prominent style of racing is well suited to Newmarket.

This is obviously a hot race.  Raffle Prize sets a high standard, and Living In The Past is the Lowther Stakes winner and French raider Tropbeau has won her last three.  But Millisle is over-priced in my book, representing a trainer whose juvenile fillies have been all-conquering all season, and she is the bet.

MILLISLE WON (ADV 18/1, SP 16/1)