So Mi Dar in great shape for Queen's Trust clash

2.55 York
Betfred Middleton Stakes | 1m2½f | Group 2 | 4yo+ fillies and mares | ITV4/RUK

An absorbing clash is in prospect between So Mi Dar and Queen’s Trust, two Newmarket-trained four-year-old mares who could scale Group 1 heights this season.

So Mi Dar, entered in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot next month, is lightly raced, having won four of her five career starts.

That sole defeat came on her most recent start when raised to Group 1 level in Chantilly’s Prix de l’Opera last October, with the daughter of Dubawi finishing a close third to Speedy Boarding.

Her trainer John Gosden, who also runs The Black Princess, said: “So Mi Dar has done very well over the winter and is now a big, strong filly who we are looking forward to starting back.

“She has shown the benefit of missing out on the Breeders’ Cup last year after her unlucky third in the Prix de l’Opera and this race has always been the plan as a starting point. She’s full of it at home at the moment and is bursting for a run.”

Sir Michael Stoute’s Queen’s Trust has already tasted success at racing’s top table, having memorably landed the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf in the final stride at Santa Anita last November and, as a result, must concede 3lb to So Mi Dar.

Queen’s Trust, who will be joined on the Knavesmire by stable companion Smart Call – a three-time Grade 1 winner in South Africa – has also been placed three times at Group 1 level and connections are looking forward to some more rewarding days with her. She is also entered in the Prince of Wales’s.

Andrew Balding, trainer of Blond Me, said: “The ground would be a bit of a concern and we'll assess things on raceday, but she's got restricted options having a won a Group 2 at the end of last season.

"I think she'll stay the extra distance and that's why we're running her over a bit further, but it is a little bit of an unknown.

"When we tried it last season it was at the end of a long campaign and she wasn't at her best anyway. She's pretty straight fitness-wise.”