O’brien has recipe for victory with Roly Poly
Roly Poly can enjoy a welldeserved day in the sun with victory in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket.
Aidan O’brien’s filly won the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes on the corresponding card a year ago and while she has failed to visit the winner’s enclosure since, she has run several excellent races in defeat.
She was only very narrowly beaten by stablemate Brave Anna in the Cheveley Park Stakes last autumn and she has also filled the runner-up spot twice at the highest level this season, finding only Winter too strong in both the Irish 1,000 Guineas and the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.
She gets her chance as the Ballydoyle first string on the July Course and while the unbeaten Wuheida merits great respect, it will be a huge performance if she can make a successful return after a nine-month absence.
Roly Poly is talented and battle-hardened and likes the track, so it will be a surprise if she is not involved in the finish.
It could be yet another prof- itable day for the formidable combination of O’brien and jockey Ryan Moore, with Clemmie a leading candidate for the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes.
The daughter of Galileo is bred for the job as a full-sister to this year’s dual 2000 Guineas hero Churchill and, like her sibling, she shaped with abundant promise when third on her racecourse debut at the Curragh.
Unlike Churchill, Clemmie was unable to open her account on her second start at Royal Ascot, but was not disgraced in finishing seventh in the Albany for one so inexperienced. She showed the benefit of that run when bolting up in a Group Three back on home turf recently and while Nyaleti looks a formidable opponent, Clemmie is preferred.
Mark Johnston has gone to the trouble of booking Moore to ride his in-form filly Titi Makfi in the bet365 Handicap.
The three-year-old has been a busy girl of late, winning each of her four starts in June, seeing her rating rise from 70 to her current perch of 93.
She is 5lb higher than when scoring comfortably on her latest appearance at Chester a fortnight ago, but that might not be enough to stop her completing the five-timer.
The Unibet Summer Stakes takes centre stage at York.
Queen Kindly beat Roly Poly when winning the Lowther Stakes over the course and distance last summer, but the suspicion is she has not trained on and the vote goes to German challenger Artistica.
The three-year-old caused a major upset when lifting a Listed prize at Nottingham in May, but there did not appear to be any fluke about it and she has won a Group Three since returning to her homeland.