Audarya tops six-strong Nassau field

PA Sport Reporters
July 27, 2021 9:45 am

Ballydoyle pair among opposition for James Fanshawe’s mare.

Breeders’ Cup heroine Audarya heads a field of six runners for the Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.

James Fanshawe’s mare enjoyed a tremendous campaign in 2020, progressing from a narrow victory in a Newcastle handicap to claiming Group One honours in both the Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville and the Filly And Mare Turf at Keeneland.

Audarya made an encouraging return to action when runner-up to Love in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last month and is likely to be a hot favourite to get back on the winning trail in the feature event on day three of the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

5️⃣ for Seamie and 🔟 for Aidan at The @curraghrace
It’s more Classic success for Team @Ballydoyle as Empress Josephine collars stablemate Joan Of Arc to win the Group 1 @Tattersalls1766 Irish 1,000 Guineas 👏 pic.twitter.com/yI425NKz4f
— Horse Racing Ireland (@HRIRacing) May 23, 2021

Audarya is unlikely to have things all her own way on Thursday, however, with Aidan O’Brien having also declared a pair of Classic winners in Empress Josephine and Joan Of Arc.

Empress Josephine denied her stablemate by a short head in the Irish 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh, since when Joan Of Arc has gone one better in the Prix de Diane – the French Oaks.

William Jarvis runs his stable star Lady Bowthorpe, who bids to break her top-level duck on her first appearance over a mile and a quarter. Her fast-finishing fourth in the Falmouth at Newmarket three weeks ago suggested a step up in trip could bring about further improvement.

Lady Bowthorpe is a leading contender (George Selwyn/PA)

The sextet is completed by Roger Varian’s Zeyaadah and the Martyn Meade-trained Technique.

The pair were split by just a head when first and second in a Group Three at Newcastle last month, with both fillies having previously been down the field in the Oaks at Epsom.