Davison confident She’s Quality can live up to her name

Adam Morgan
August 30, 2023 2:19 pm

Trainer has high hopes for Tuesday’s Newbury winner.

Jack Davison has described She’s Quality as “probably the best horse I have trained” after the filly proved well named in shedding her maiden tag at Newbury.

The daughter of Acclamation bumped into next year’s 1000 Guineas favourite Ylang Ylang when third on debut before going on to finish a two-and-a-half-length fourth in the Group Three Anglesey Stakes on her second start.

She then further advertised her potential when splitting Michael O’Callaghan’s Navassa Island and Round Tower Stakes winner Letsbefrankaboutit in a Curragh maiden, before getting off the mark with a flourish in her raiding mission to Newbury, surging the best part of four lengths clear of the opposition in the hands of James Doyle.

Davison said: “She’s a lovely filly and very exciting and I would go as far to say she is probably the best horse I have trained. It’s super to have her and she should be a better three-year-old as well, so it’s great.

“I think Newbury was the first time she got nice conditions – good, quick ground and six furlongs. We were able to get a bit of cover and she was more professional. She’s very much on an upwards curve.”

She’s Quality provided her County Meath handler with just his second victory on UK soil and is now set to have her sights raised with both the valuable Goffs Million at the Curragh on September 23 or a shot at Group One glory in Newmarket’s Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes a week later being considered for her next outing.

“She’s a better filly on better ground, so it will be a toss up between the Goffs Million and the Cheveley Park,” added Davison.

“I will have to keep a close eye on what the ground is doing and if she is going to get a stiff seven at the Curragh, it will want to be nice ground. It’s 50-50 really.

“It would be quite exciting to have a good chance in the Goffs Million and we will look forward to plenty of black-type opportunities with her next year. But if the ground was to come up soft in Ireland and nice in England, I would have no problem redirecting her to the Cheveley Park, she’s of that calibre.”

It was Thunderbear who gave Davison with his first UK winner when striking at Nottingham earlier in the season and having gone on to ply his trade at Group level in his next three outings, he is poised to make his first start in France early next month.

Although running with credit in some top-quality events over six and seven furlongs, he will now drop back to the minimum distance for ParisLongchamp’s Prix du Petit Couvert on September 10, where his handler is predicting he will thrive.

“Thunderbear is very well and he’s entered in a Group Three at Longchamp,” continued Davison.

“I look forward to dropping him back to sprint distances on soft ground. I think that will really be his game and we haven’t seen the best of him yet. He has plenty of speed.”