Still Believing! Highclere have sights set on big Irish prizes

Chris Phillips
September 2, 2024 3:38 pm

Flying Five and Matron Stakes on the agenda during Irish Champions Festival weekend.

Connections of Believing are hopeful she can finally land an elusive Group One when she takes her place in the Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh later this month.

The George Boughey-trained daughter of Mehmas was behind Bradsell by just three-quarters of a length in the Nunthorpe at York with an unfavourable draw.

That followed on from two near misses in the space of four days for the four-year-old at Royal Ascot, when beaten a length and a half and two and three-quarter lengths respectively in the King Charles III Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

Believing pulls away to win the Sapphire Stakes (Niall Carson/PA)

In between she enjoyed Group Two success in the Sapphire Stakes at the Curragh in the hands of Ryan Moore, before being only three-quarters of a length third in the King George at Goodwood to Big Evs and Asfoora.

Harry Herbert of owners Highclere Thoroughbred Racing is looking forward to a rematch with Bradsell in Ireland.

He said: “You’d have to say if she’d be drawn the other side (in the Nunthorpe) it would have been very close! It was close enough anyway, three-quarters of a length and seeing where she came from to get there…

“A wonderful performance and sensational splits through those last two furlongs so we head to the Curragh for the Flying Five, on a track where she won a Group Two last time and hopefully she will be highly competitive again.

“She always runs her heart out, she’s such an extraordinary filly and she bounces out of her races and has been kept very busy, when you think starting in Hong Kong where it was a deluge and the ground went against her, and then going every two or three weeks and twice at Royal Ascot and she’s still firing.

“She’s an extraordinary animal and giving everyone a lot of fun, so we hope it doesn’t get too soft over in Ireland and she can go one better.

“For everyone it’s to try to win a Group One, as a broodmare prospect winning a Group One with the rest of her CV to back that up is very special indeed when she eventually heads to the sales, so we’re very hopeful that she can do that in Ireland.

“We’ll see who turns up and what the ground is like and see what the final field for the Saturday looks like. Game on (for the rematch with Bradsell). He’s a wonderful horse, Bradsell, fantastic, and we weren’t that far away on the wrong side.

“This is a straight five and hopefully we can get Ryan again and Bradsell will obviously be a pretty warm favourite and we hope to go one better.”

Soprano winning the Sandringham Stakes at Royal Ascot (John Walton/PA)

Soprano is another Highclere-owned filly hunting a first Group One when she lines up in the Coolmore America “Justify” Matron Stakes at Leopardstown 24 hours earlier.

Also trained by Boughey, the daughter of Starspangledbanner won at Royal Ascot this year and was last seen landing a Group Three at Deauville where a change of tactics bore fruit.

Usually held up, William Buick sent her to the front of the field and she kept on strongly to come home three lengths clear of Rose Bloom.

Herbert said: “She’s thriving, she’s fantastic and I think what we learned in France was very much that we won’t be afraid to ride her prominently.

“She’s had this little bit of a quirk where she’s running free and then it’s settle her down, settle her down at the back and in fact what she wants to be doing is be much more prominent.

“She seems to really enjoy that style of racing so in Ireland that will very much be the plan to ride her sensibly but don’t give her too much to do.”