Godolphin and Juddmonte both hoping English Rose can bloom in upstate New York

Frankel’s team will be hoping for a new top-level winner for the reigning British and Irish champion sire when four-year-old daughter English Rose lines up for the New York Stakes at Saratoga on Friday (11.05pm BST).

The four-year-old went close to a maiden Grade 1 score in April when runner-up at Keeneland in the Jenny Wiley Stakes, when her cause was not helped by her pulling hard under William Buick.

The Charlie Appleby-trained filly, a Godolphin homebred, won her maiden at Newmarket on her debut last May and, after a near six-month break, followed up at Kempton in a novice event.

After being beaten a neck on her return at Meydan in January, she then won the Group 2 Balanchine by an impressive two and a half lengths.

English Rose is out of Dubawi’s Group 1-winning daughter Sobetsu, who took the Prix Saint-Alary in 2017.

The 1m11/12f Saratoga contest looks a deep affair that will take a fair bit of winning, and English Rose’s draw in stall two of 13 remains to be seen as good or bad, though her trainer believes it should be favourable.

Appleby said: “We were delighted with English Rose in the Jenny Wiley and stepping up a furlong here should suit. She has a good draw in two and should be very competitive in a race that looks to have plenty of strength in depth.”

Frankel, whose latest Group 1 winner was English Rose’s stablemate Measured Time in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan in January, is also represented by McKulick, already a top-level winner in the 2022 Belmont Oaks.

Also lining up is the 2023 winner of the Belmont Oaks, Aspen Grove, saddled by Fozzy Stack then but now in the care of Jack Sisterson. She is a daughter of Derby-winning sire Justify.

Tasleet, now at Star Born Stud in the Punjab, is sire of the other challenger from overseas, the Joseph O’Brien-trained American Sonja, winner of the Group 3 Prix Allez France at Longchamp in April on her latest start.

The Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale graduate was bred by Whatcote Farm Stud out of the Kodiac mare Gumhrear. Frankie Dettori takes the mount on the four-year-old.

English Rose is 3-1 favourite on the morning line, ahead of War Like Goddess (4-1), having her first run as a seven-year-old. She was last seen finishing seventh behind Auguste Rodin in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita in November. 

The ex-Richard Fahey-trained Fev Rover, twice a Grade 1 winner since moving to Mark Casse, also runs for the first time since the Santa Anita extravaganza, when she finished down the field behind Inspiral in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. 

The New York Stakes is one of three Grade 1s at Saratoga on Friday, which this year is playing host to the Belmont Stakes – on Saturday – for the first time, with Belmont Park undergoing redevelopment. 

Goffs London Sale

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