Group Two Queen Mary Stakes Guide 2021

Another raider for Wesley Ward as Twilight Gleaming looks to do better than stablemate Kaufymaker did.

Debuting back in April as a short priced favourite, the sharp test of 4.5 furlongs was too much too soon and she finished a well held 2nd.

However, taken back to the course at Belmont Park she made amends and absolutely bolted up by 7.5 lengths. She led pillar to post and put the race beyond doubt at the furlong marker with a really sharp turn of foot.

Ward has a good record in this race and the filly showed blistering speed to win her maiden in taking style.

If she can handle the trip over to England, she does set an interesting standard at the top of the market.

Another one coming over from America to lay down a challenge to the English horses in their own backyard.

Artos is trained by George Arnold and he’s made quite the statement in booking Frankie Dettori for his filly here.

Not particularly well fancied for debut, she showed plenty of natural ability and finished a distant 2nd to an impressive winner.

Dropped back slightly in trip for a run at Churchill Downs, she showed a real tenacity to knuckle down and ground out a duel to two close finishing rivals.

She showed grit and professionalism on only her second start and clearly has bags of pace. Warrants respect on her English debut.

Once raced filly for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore. She has only been seen once so we don’t have a great deal to go on.

Appearing at Dundalk on the all weather for a maiden she just pipped short priced favourite Orinoco River for Donnacha O’Brien, the two pulling miles clear of the remainder.

The 2nd has yet to come out and confirm the form but the two of them certainly looked of a pretty high standard on their debuts and will clash again here.

The 3rd has been well held since, finishing 8th.

Visually very impressive, she looked quite forward for her age and should take the experience in her stride. One to keep in mind.

One for the home team and Andrew Balding. Nympphadora didn’t set the world alight on her debut at Newmarket back in April.

She showed her inexperience and hung badly when Oisin Murphy got serious with her.

Connections were undeterred by her 6th place and moved her into listed company for her second run.

She repaid the faith in style and won the Marygate Stakes at York’s Dante Festival with ease.

She showed a real nice turn of foot and hit the line strongly to leave her twelve rivals in her wake. The 2nd has come out and won handily since.

She took to listed level and there’s no reason why she can’t step up her game again into Group 2 company.

Middle draw might not be ideal. Overpriced on what she has achieved already in a short career.

Well named and hopefully has the walk to back up the talk. Making the trip over from Ireland for Gavin Cromwell is Quick Suzy.

Debuting over 5 furlongs, the penny dropped late as to what her job was. Showing signs of green-ness she ran on really nicely once she got herself organised.

Connections capitalised on her debut run by moving her up to 6 furlongs and she dropped her maiden tag in fine style by 5.5 lengths.

Last seen trying her hand in Group 2 company over at Naas, she ran a screamer again on soft ground to chase home Hermana Estrella in the Fillies’ Sprint Stakes.

She still showed signs of her inexperience and she wandered around when put to talk by Gary Carroll.

She also weakened late on but that could be due to the soft ground sapping her stamina close to the line, especially going group pace for the first time.

She should appreciate the drop back to a stiff 5 furlongs, but we haven’t seen her on fast ground.

Mentioned earlier as she has form tying in with Yet. The two squared off at Dundalk on debut and Donnacha’s charge just found herself on the losing side of the duel.

Another well bred filly, she’s more than entitled to have learnt enough from her first run to make rapid strides of progress.
Yet may have edged her out at Dundalk but the pair were miles clear of 3rd.

Should be kept an eye on for price comparisons with Yet. Likely to improve for switching to turn.

A low draw again is less than ideal as the Ascot straight course tends to favour the higher stalls.

Marking up a quick double at Newmarket for Stuart Williams. Debuting over 5 furlongs back in mid April, the 25/1 outsider was guided home expertly well by Hollie Doyle to a shock success that had Nymphadora back in 6th.

Moved up in trip for her second run at Newmarket, the extra distance was no issue and she hit the line strongly again to deny Dashing Rat, 11th in the Coventry.

She shaped really well over 6 furlongs and won going away. Nothing suggested that she would be desperate for a drop back in trip but they’ll go hard on rattling fast ground and her stamina might help her pick up the pieces.
Oisin Murphy takes over in the saddle.

Each way material.

Another runner who has only taken to the course once in her life.

She is incredibly well bred as A showcasing out of Dutch Art mare. She had Eve Lodge back in 3rd when easily winning her debut here at Ascot back in early May.

She’s with connections who won this race back in 2017 and looks overpriced in comparison to Eve Lodge.

Her form has worked out well enough producing a subsequent winner in Eve Lodge so she could be one for the each way lists if taking a step forward from debut.

One of the more experienced in the field for George Boughey, Beautiful Sunshine has already taken to the track 3 times in her short career.

A well fancied favourite for her debut at Newmarket over the minimum trip back in April, it was the race that also featured Nympahadora and Desert Dreamer.

She maybe did a little too much on debut and started to wilt in the final furlong to finish back in 8th.

Moving to Windsor for her second run she handled some cut in the ground with ease and broke her maiden tag at the second time of asking.

She followed up that smart performance in novice company on even softer ground at Sandown after just a 10 day break. Again short priced favourite she seemed to relish the going and course to romp home to a decisive 4 length victory.

The 3rd has won since to boost the form.

Her form has worked out well. Not to be dismissed.

A Mehmas 2 year old for Kevin Ryan and Colin Keane next in May Poder. She was a big price for the Marygate Stakes at York on her debut and yet ran admirably to be 4th.

She was very green on her first outing in listed company but clearly connections had plenty of faith in her ability and was pleased with what she was doing at home.

Having that experience under her belt should see her progress nicely from her first run. Mehmas’ crops tend to be highly precocious and have plenty of speed on their side like their sire.

A low draw is less than ideal but she’s another who could make a big leap forward and get involved.

An Irish raider for Fozzy Stack and Chris Hayes, this Starspangledbanner filly was a really taking winner on debut and comfortably beat rivals who had experience over her.

Connections happy with what they saw she moved up into listed company but finished a very tired 6th behind the very impressive Castle Star.

She shaped really nicely at the Curragh on debut but seemed out of her depth when moving up in grade for her most recent run.

She looks a decent sort but is likely to be even more out of her depth here.

Only seen once on course when landing a gamble at Thirsk. The filly was showing at 40/1 in the betting and went off 10/3 before hosing up with ease.

The money was on point and she looked a smart prospect when skipping clear on soft ground.
The form hasn’t worked out well.

The 6th has won since but the rest of the field have been well beaten.

It doesn’t look like she beat much at Thirsk but clearly word got out that she was looking promising and the massive gamble was landed.

Not to be dismissed, she’s going to have to take a big step forward to be getting involved in this deeper contest.

Only 33 days ago she was sent off favourite for the Marygate Stakes at York yet she finds herself a big 33/1 here.
Well fancied for her first run, she obliged favourite backers at Windsor in early April.

The form has worked out well since so it looked a good place to start with the Marygate.

She wasn’t disgraced at York but could only manage 3rd behind the faster finishing Nymphadora and Canonized, with Mas Poder back in 4th.

In comparison to her rivals she’s a big price and could easily get in the mix again if improving for her run at York. She travelled powerfully that day but didn’t quite have the gears.

A stiffer course could suit her more.

A very experienced 2 year old who has already chalked up 4 runs in her career for Kevin Condon.

Debuting over at Tipperary, she ran a fine race on debut to be 3rd. She looked to have talent and a winning run in her soon, so was rightly sent off favourite for her next run at Cork.

She bumped into a couple too good with joint favourite Amalfi Coast finishing 2nd and outside winner Strapped taking the race for Jim Bolger.

The filly did get off the mark at the third attempt when encountering soft ground at Cork. It was only a low grade affair but she did it with some ease.

Sent off favourite for her most recent run she was just pipped to the post by Twilight Jet.

She only won a weak affair and has struggled to really assert herself in any deeper contests. Likely to have too much on her plate here again.

A Kodi Bear filly who only made her debut 12 days ago when running at Catterick to finish 3rd.

We have very little to go on with only seeing her once and it being too soon for the form to have any testing.

But she showed plenty of promise and ran on nicely, clearly learning on the job.

She is quite well bred but needs to rapidly improve to get seriously involved.

Lowest draw in trap one is less than ideal.

Only tested on soft ground on both of her runs at Catterick, this daughter of Fast Company lived up to the name on her most recent run.

She wasn’t particularly well fancied in the betting for her first outing but was a real eye-catcher on how well she ran on to a never nearer 2nd.

She confirmed the promise shown on debut when shedding her maiden tag by an impressive 4.75 lengths.

The form of the win hasn’t worked out particularly well but she did it very nicely and clearly learned plenty from her debut run.

She’s got a nice high draw which should help but she hasn't raced on quick ground and might just find the pace hard to handle without rain shifting the emphasis to stamina.

A Dark Angel filly for George Boughey, who has worked miracles with his 2 year olds this season.

Debuting on the all weather in late May, she was no match for runaway winner Hello You but stayed on strongly from the rear of the field to be the best of the rest behind an impressive winner.

She looked set to break her maiden 11 days ago when running at Haydock but was a disappointing favourite. She hit the front 2 furlongs out but seemingly didn’t quite last home and faded back into 4th place.

Moving back down to 5 furlongs is a smart move but she’s got a lot to find to get anywhere near competitive here.

A triple figure price to follow up a win only 11 days ago. Coup De Force was 3rd behind Beautiful Sunshine at Sandown last month and could only get within just shy of 9 lengths of the impressive winner.

She has loads to make up with that rival but boosted the form nicely when winning at Chepstow at a massive price. She made every yard of the running and wasn’t for catching out front.

She showed she was still quite green in proceedings and wandered around by herself in the final furlong but she showed a smart amount of progress to get off the mark 11 days ago but will have to take another giant leap forward to reverse the form with Beautiful Sunshine.

Debuting only 12 days ago in a race at Bath she was favourite to get off the mark at the first time of asking but seemingly found it a learning day.

She made good late inroads but was very green throughout and it hindered her in getting to the eventual winner.

She did show promise and will be more clued in as to the task at hand now but has plenty to find to get anywhere near competitive in such a stark rise in grade.

Seen for the first time at Beverley at the end of last month. She never looked like she was ever going to get involved in proceedings and finished a lowly 6th of 10 runners.

It’s hard to have any real confidence in her improving enough to get involved and she’s already a mammoth price to get close again. Best avoided.