Cotter already making more travel plans for Matilda Picotte

Front-running filly will stay in training at four, with a Group One victory the target.

Matilda Picotte will stay in training next season with the ambition of blitzing her way to Group One glory.

Kieran Cotter’s three-year-old has become popular due to her free-going style of racing and is regularly seen blazing a trail on the front-end in races with a target on her back.

Those front-running tactics may not have paid off early on in her Classic season, which saw her pinned late in Leopardstown’s Priory Belle before finishing an honourable third in the 1000 Guineas.

But they came to the fore in her final two outings, as Matilda Picotte made all for Sceptre Stakes glory at Doncaster before following up in real style in Newmarket’s Challenge Stakes.

Her owners have now made the decision to hold on to the daughter of Sioux Nation and she will return to training with Cotter in search of further riches as a four-year-old.

“She is definitely coming back and that’s the plan,” said Cotter.

“Her flamboyant style of running appeals to plenty of people and there is no doubt she will be crossing the pond to England again next year, she’s done very well over there.

“There’s a lot of options open to her, but I would say she will be travelling a fair bit next year.

“It’s very hard to hold on to a horse like her, especially when you are not one of the bigger yards, it can be hard to retain them.

“We’ve been very lucky and she’s taken us to places you could not have dreamed of going before. So we’re going to roll the dice some more.”

The pick of Matilda Picotte’s form, including her two end-of-season triumphs, has come at seven furlongs and her 2024 campaign is poised to be centred around a tilt at the Prix de la Foret, Europe’s only Group One at that distance.

However, with seven-furlong options at the highest level few and far between, Cotter has also suggested she would be capable of dropping back in distance if needed.

Matilda Picotte on the way to winning at Newmarket
Matilda Picotte on the way to winning at Newmarket (Nigel French/PA)

“It’s a hard call and she definitely has the pace for it,” added Cotter, when asked if sprinting was an option.

“There are not too many races over seven for her and I think she will probably have to have a go at it.

“I suppose the primary objective for her next year is to get a Group One for her and I think that will be top of the list.

“The Group One over seven in France, the Foret, would probably be the target, but I would imagine she would also step down to six furlongs as well, now that she is older and stronger. She’s already put on another 20 kilos and we’re very hopeful.”

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