Albany Stakes Guide 2021

Simon and Ed Crisford bring their Starspangledbanner filly Flotus here off the back of a very impressive debut win.

A 125,000 guineas purchase as a yearling, she confirmed the promise that her price tag hinted at when absolutely bolting up at Goodwood on soft ground over 6 furlongs.

Frankie Dettori is an eye-catching booking and connections said she could be even better on a quicker surface.

Handles soft, likely to handle quick ground, she looks rock solid at the head of affairs.

Her form is yet to be tested but visually she looked the part.

Prolific juvenile trainer Ralph Beckett saddles Hello You and the extremely expensive yearling looks to build on her impressive debut.

Purchased for a mammoth 350,000 guineas, she repaid that faith with a demolition job on debut at Wolverhampton.

Starting out life over 6 furlongs on the all weather, she surged clear by 6.5 lengths in the last furlong. The form hasn’t held up brilliantly but she brushed the opposition aside with such ease, she’s clearly a cut above the average.

Out of a versatile sire in Invincible Spirit, the likelihood is she will handle the ground despite what the weather does.

Could be really high class but drawn on the low side.

George Boughey looks to continue his fantastic form with his two year olds with Oscula.

The Galileo Gold filly wilted on debut into 3rd place but showed plenty of pace and promise to finish behind Sandrine.

She’s since won twice in convincing fashion. An all the way win at Brighton over 6 furlongs showed her class as she beat Dashing Rat with ease, he finished 11th in the Coventry Tuesday.

Moved up in class for the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom during the Derby festival, she again sat prominent until asserting her dominance late on to run away a 3 length winner to Flaming Rib.

He only managed 20th in the Windsor Castle however.

The form hasn’t exactly taken a boost at Royal Ascot but she looked smart at Epsom and likely still has some improvement left in her.

Breeding suggests soft ground should be ok and she’s got experience on her side.

Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien team up with the first foal out of group one winning mare Alice Springs. By Dubawi, she’s certainly bred in the purple and showed her class when winning on debut at Navan.

She made every yard at Navan and handed a beating to two other fillies who had experience on their side.

She stayed on powerfully to assert late on over 5.5 furlongs and looks like she will appreciate going further in trip on a stiff course.

The form is yet to be tested but she has class in her blood. The only warning would be her dam’s preference for fast ground with rain forecast to hit Ascot.

Another one for George Boughey, a 60,000 guineas buy during the breeze-up sales, Cachet continued the good run of form for her trainer in juvenile races when winning by 5.5 lengths on debut at Newmarket.

The form again hasn’t worked out very well but she put them to bed without breaking a sweat, despite showing signs of greenness.

She was clued in on debut and sat close to the pace before quickening up nicely.

A central draw isn’t a disaster and Nicola Currie will probably move over to be prominent in one of the groups that will develop.

Debuting early last month here at Ascot, Eve Lodge had some trouble in running but showed good maturity to gather herself together and ran on well for 3rd.

Plenty of promise shown on rain softened ground over 5 furlongs, she was then an easy maiden winner when sent to Lingfield on soft ground only two weeks later.

Faster ground is a slight unknown but she looks to have plenty of talent about her. The 2nd from her last run has been a decent 2nd since.

Her form hasn’t worked out amazingly well but she couldn’t have done it much easier at Lingfield. Exciting if she takes another step forward. Jamie Spencer retains the partnership.

She was taken out of the Queen Mary yesterday as the ground was too fast for her, hopefully the rain falls in time for her to take her chance.

Coming over from Ireland for Donnacha O’Brien, Elliptic beat the Queen Mary winner Quick Suzy one debut at Tipperary back in April.

The form of that Tipperary run couldn’t have taken a much better boosting than the second winning a Group 2 Wednesday, but the race did also produce other winners.

Moved up to 6 furlongs for her most recent run at the Curragh, she was beaten by Dr Zempf who looked really smart on debut.

The 3rd has boosted that form since by winning recently at Gowran Park. She probably bumped into an anomaly last time out but has some solid form in the books regardless.

One for the each way shortlist if building on two solid outings.

The final runner for George Boughey, this filly only made her debut 7 days ago at Goodwood.

She just got the better of Zain Claudette as the two knuckled down for a fight to the finish, pulling 3 lengths clear of 3rd.

Looking like the third string of the stable’s three runners, she acquitted herself well on debut but is backing up quickly.

She’s going to have to improve leaps and bounds to get seriously involved but the yard’s juveniles are going well.

Hard to assess with her run being so recent the form has yet to be tested.

For Andrew Balding, Sandrine is a once raced Bobby’s Kitten filly. Debuting at Kempton on the all weather last month, she dug deep to use her superior stamina to win.

She had Oscula back in 3rd that day and she’s gone on to frank the form well. She might not have clocked up as much experience as that rival but beat her convincingly enough at Kempton.

We haven’t seen her since but moving to a stiff track should really suit. She’ll likely hang in the midfield and try to use that stamina to power home late again.

Stable doing well this week and have notched up a juvenile win already, low draw not ideal.

Debuting for Kevin Ryan back in mid April, she showed some promise but was a well held 5th of 11 runners.

She quickly left her debut run behind her however and stormed to victory on good to firm ground at Beverley, the 2nd has won since.

She moved up in trip grade for a crack at the Hilary Needler Trophy at Beverley when last seen and handled soft ground well to record another success.

The 3rd has won since and the 2nd was 8th in the Windsor Castle Wednesday.

She’s done all her running over 5 furlongs and is just starting to shape like going further would suit.

A stiff 6 furlongs could draw out more improvement, she could be a surprise package.

Only seen once for Richard Hannon is Sows, a £100,000 yearling she drifted markedly in the betting for her debut but got the job done nonetheless.

Thore Hammer Hansen kept her quite close to the pace and she managed to quicken up nicely when asked to get up in a tight three way finish.

The 2nd however was beaten by Hellomydarlin at Goodwood easily recently.

The form might not be stellar, but she travelled well over 5 furlongs and looked like the switch to 6 would be right up her alley.

Could improve any amount from debut but she will need it to have a chance in this much deeper race.

Making her debut at Wolverhampton on the all weather for the Gosden team, she was well fancied in the betting but finished back in 4th behind Hello You and White Jasmine.

Coming slowly out the stalls hampered her chances and she showed that she was talented when taking to the course again at Kempton when winning by only a nose.

It was only 16 days ago so the form hasn’t been tested since, but she handled the sharpness of Kempton well to just get in front where it mattered.

Progressing but has a big chunk of improvement to find to get on level with Hello You.

A winner on debut for Kevin Ryan at Newcastle back in early April, she narrowly denied Alaskan Jewel who has failed to frank the form since.

She ran to a very similar level when coming 3rd to Cachet at Newmarket when last seen. She was giving 6lbs away to the winner but the stiffer course and going up in trip just looked to task her stamina too much.

Open to improvement for that run, she does now face Cachet on level terms. However it’s looking like she won’t be able to reverse that form.

A Mehmas filly for Phillip Makin, she got up well to deny Burning Emotion. The front two had pulled clear but it’s not looking like the strongest lines of form on offer.

She has plenty to find to get competitive but is related to a Queen Mary winner and her sire did well at this meeting.
Very likely to get lost in the shuffle for lack of quality.

Gay Kellaway is represented by the rank outsider in the field with Gypsy Lady.

Taking three tries to notch her first win, she was last on debut before finishing 5th on soft ground at Windsor over 6 furlongs.

She was a big price when claiming a maiden at Chelmsford but it looked a really weak affair that she capitalised on.

Blinkers go on, but they’ll have to perform miracles to get her involved in a deep looking Albany.