Lope Scholar out to maintain promising run of Waverley Racing

Waverley Racing did not go far wrong with its heavy recruitment of Lope De Vega fillies at the yearling sales in 2017 with a quartet trained by Ralph Beckett getting off the mark last season.

It was a perfect strike-rate with Manuela De Vega earning Listed honours at Pontefract and going on to place fourth in the Investec Oaks. Antonia De Vega went further in taking the Group 3 Prestige at Goodwood and set herself up for a potential Irish Oaks challenge by advertising her wellbeing in Listed company at Newbury a fortnight ago.

Deauville Listed winner Feliciana De Vega has not been seen at three and Dancing Vega has been off games since disappointing in the Fred Darling but a new name will advertise the Ballylinch Stud kingpin at Chelmsford on Friday evening.

Lope Scholar, bred in partnership by Haras du Cadran, was offered at Arqana and signed for by Beckett himself for €120,000. She is out of the winning Lomitas mare Varsity and therefore a half-sister to GM Hopkins, a standing dish in major handicaps for John Gosden and on the scoresheet at Group 3 level since a transfer to the UAE.

Lope Scholar starts off over a mile in the against a few rivals who have shown some ability on the track.

Hugo Palmer’s Pivotal filly Beauty Of Deira showed marked promise to be second in her recent Newbury debut while Jadeerah, by Frankel and from the family of 1,000 Guineas winner Ghanaati, has been getting closer to an elusive success.