ROYAL ASCOT PIPEDREAM FOR HABANA

CHICA LA HABANA had never set foot on a racecourse until yesterday but she made a huge impression on her Beverley debut.

It took a while for the penny to drop in the Hilary Needler Trophy but the filly came through to beat a more experienced field. Jockey Adam Beschizza (right) said she will improve massively for the race.

He said: “She’ll come on a stone for that run as the penny kept dropping during the race. She’s been working well at home but we hadn’t really given her a racecourse gallop or anything like that. “I wouldn’t like to say if she was a Queen Mary horse. Royal Ascot would be a big step up but she’ll improve.” Mark Johnston had been expected to win the race with 2-5 hotpot Rebel Assault but she flopped. However, the Middleham trainer earlier won the Brian Yeardley Stakes with the super-fast Cardsharp. He saw off stablemate Rufus King and will now head for the royal meeting. He also paid a big compliment to his Epsom conqueror De Bruyne Horse Johnston’s wife and assistant Deirdre said: “He’s a big, lovely horse and that was fantastic. He took a lot of pulling up and Joe Fanning said five furlongs or six would be fine. “He’ll probably be entered in the Norfolk, Windsor Castle and Coventry Stakes and we’ll see which race is suitable. “We didn’t know about the ground, but he seemed fine on it. The second horse probably wants another furlong and we’ll think about Royal Ascot.”