Gosden fillies on fire in build-up to twin assault on Oaks

A winning connection made in the Gulf state of Qatar was continued on the Norfolk coast when Ghara got her head in front for the first time in the 1m3½f maiden.

Andrea Atzeni rode the daughter of Frankel to victory for owner Al Wasmiyah Stud, just as he had on her John and Thady Gosden-trained stablemate Alzahir in Qatar in February.

Ghara, who was sent off even money, is a much more valuable commodity after edging out market rival King Of The Plains and may now head to Royal Ascot.

Thady Gosden said: “Ghara did well to win off a muddling pace and Andrea gave her a perfect ride. She was entitled to run well after finishing fourth in the Lingfield Oaks Trial and that sets her up nicely for a crack at the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot.”

The Gosdens doubled up 30 minutes later when Lady Eros, the mount of Oisin Murphy, carried the colours of Friday's leading Oaks fancy Running Lion to success in the mile handicap.

Murphy, who won the opener on Simply Gorgeous for Phil McEntee, completed a treble when Red Treasure took the 7f handicap for Ed Dunlop.

Lightning strikes

The first 7f two-year-old race of the year on the North Denes had gone the way of Godolphin every year since its creation in 2019, but their two runners were put in the shade this time behind the Archie Watson-trained Lightning Leo.

At 130,000gns, the 10-1 chance was some way shy of the 1.1 million gns Godolphin paid for fourth-placed Inner City but made light of his inexperience to hold off fellow newcomer Sayedaty Sadaty under Hector Crouch.

The son of Night Of Thunder was easy to spot with his white face to the fore for much of the trip and he could well be under consideration for the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot.

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