Generation game for one more Challenge this term

Ashley Iveson
September 18, 2024 9:57 am

Marco Botti eyeing Group Two success at Newmarket for smart filly.

Great Generation could sign off her season in Newmarket’s Challenge Stakes after bouncing back to winning ways at Doncaster on Sunday.

Winner of the Group Three Chartwell Fillies’ Stakes at Lingfield in the spring, Marco Botti’s charge had since finished a close-up fourth in the Summer Stakes at York before trailing home last of 15 runners when stepped up to Group One level for the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville.

The three-year-old dropped back down in class for the Group Three Sceptre Stakes on the fourth and final day of the St Leger Festival and showed her true colours with a determined success.

Botti said: “Her run was too bad to be true in France and it didn’t really pan out, but we know she’s a nice filly and I think the ground at Doncaster was just OK – I think if it was any softer than it was, we would have been in trouble.

“Carrying the penalty, she did it nicely. A stiff six or seven furlongs seems to be her best trip and hopefully there’s a little bit more to come.

“She needs decent ground, so we think maybe the only option before the end of the season would be the Group Two at Newmarket, the Challenge Stakes.

“We definitely won’t go to France, so that would be the only option. She should stay in training next season, so hopefully we can have a good season next year.”