Altyn Orda
Altyn Orda ran a big race to finish fifth in the 1000 Guineas. Never far off the pace, she picked up at the two-furlong marker when Frankie Dettori asked her to, and she arrived there with a chance as they raced into the Dip. But she was racing on the left wing, a fair way away from where the race unfolded. She kept on well to take fifth place, but it is possible that she would have done even better if she had been able to race further towards the far side. The winner Billesdon Brook emerged from stall eight, but she was delivered with her challenge on the far side, and the next three home were drawn, respectively, five, four and one. Altyn Orda raced from stall 12 and raced towards the near side. The fillies drawn higher than her finished, respectively, 15th, 11th and ninth.
Roger Varian's filly raced just three times last season as a juvenile, she finished second in her first two races, both Newmarket maidens, and she sprang a 25/1 shock in the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes on her third and final run last year. She started off this season encouragingly too by finishing second to Soliloquy in the Nell Gwyn Stakes, when she shaped as if a stronger pace and perhaps a step up from that seven furlongs to a mile would bring about improvement. Her Guineas run was another step forward, and she should be able to continue to progress. She would be of interest if she took up her entry in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, despite the fact that she would probably meet some of the fillies who beat her in the Guineas.
Newmarket, 6th May 2018
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