Midnight Mile

There was a lot to like about the performance that Midnight Mile put up in winning the Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket on Friday. Smartly away on the far side, she was restrained early on by Oisin Orr so that she was just about last of the 11 runners after they had gone two furlongs. She came under a ride on the far side as they quickened inside the three-furlong marker, and she had to check at the two-furlong pole, as Crystallium moved across onto the far rail in front of her. Switched to her left, her rider had to wait for a few strides for the gap to develop on the run to the furlong marker, but when it did open up and he asked her to pick up, Midnight Mile responded well. She showed a nice turn of foot to go willingly through the gap, and she stayed on strongly to get up and beat Lose Yourself by a head.

Richard Fahey’s filly probably would have been an unlucky loser if she hadn’t got there, given that she had to check her run at a crucial stage of the race. As well as that, she raced towards the far side, probably not on the fastest part of the track. The first two home in the opening race on the day, the Cornwallis Stakes, raced towards the centre of the track from stalls 12 and 11 respectively, while the two fillies who filled the places in the Oh So Sharp Stakes also raced out in the centre of the track from stalls six and 11. On top of that, this was just Richard Henry’s filly’s second run, it was her first since she won a novice stakes at Doncaster in July. By No Nay Never and out of a three-parts sister to Yesterday and Quarter Moon, she is an exciting filly. She could do even better if and when she steps up in trip.
Newmarket, 7^th October 2022