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| Sumita Pawar |
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Karl Burke is excited about Fallen Angel's chances in the Qipco 1000 Guineas at Newmarket this Sunday. The filly, owned and bred by Steve Parkin, secured three wins out of her four starts as a juvenile last season. She finished her campaign by dominating in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh in September.
This spring, she opted for a racecourse gallop at Newmarket's Craven meeting rather than running in a Guineas trial, causing Burke to believe that his star filly is ready to return to the Rowley Mile this weekend. Fallen Angel is the favorite with Coral, with Aidan O’Brien's Ylang Ylang and Charlie Appleby's Dance Sequence as other contenders.
Burke believes that Ylang Ylang and Dance Sequence are the ones to beat, but he is confident in Fallen Angel’s chances. He thinks that the racecourse gallop has sharpened her mind and brought her forward. She had four runs last year and traveled to Ireland, and Burke believes that a racecourse gallop just puts their game day head on and definitely brings them forward.
Fallen Angel is versatile ground-wise, and Burke thinks that anything from soft to good to firm would suit her. Burke has also left in Darnation, winner of the Group Two May Hill Stakes at Doncaster in September before finishing fifth in the Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc weekend at ParisLongchamp. However, she appears far from certain to line up on Sunday, with Burke leaning towards a tilt at the French Guineas the following week.
The addition of Pretty Crystal leaves a total of 20 still in contention for the first fillies' Classic of the year. Ylang Ylang is one of three possible runners for O’Brien along with Content and Brilliant, while Dance Sequence looks set to be joined by unbeaten stablemate Cinderella's Dream. Donnacha O'Brien’s Porta Fortuna, Christopher Head’s potential French raider Ramatuelle, and See The Fire from Andrew Balding’s yard also feature.