{"id":33459,"date":"2025-07-30T13:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T13:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/33459\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T13:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T13:04:10","slug":"cercene-taking-distance-test-in-nassau-stakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/33459\/","title":{"rendered":"Cercene taking distance test in Nassau Stakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The experienced Irish handler has always thought of his star performer as a stayer in the making, but having excelled at a mile has so far been kept to no further than eight furlongs.<\/p>\n

However, after Cercene\u2019s thrilling victory at the Royal meeting, Murphy now scratches his long-held itch to move up in distance, where he is confident the daughter of Australia can hold her own once more in elite company.<\/p>\n

\"TrainerTrainer Joe Murphy and jockey Gary Carroll celebrate (David Davies\/PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were very happy with her since her last run and we\u2019ll find out how we get on up in trip, so it will be a learning curve,\u201d said Murphy.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s so relaxed, we always thought she would be a mile-and-a-half filly but she proved us wrong by being so good at a mile. We\u2019ve options we could try over those distances before the season ends, so we\u2019re looking forward to running and we\u2019re fortunate we have her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have her in the Matron Stakes just in case she doesn\u2019t get the trip, but if she does it opens up more options for us and I do think she will stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is another test and another Group One. She\u2019s been third in a Guineas and won at Royal Ascot so she deserves to take her chance and plenty will be revealed by Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WhirlWhirl is a major player in the Nassau Stakes (Brian Lawless\/PA)<\/p>\n

If Cercene is to add a second Group One to her resume, she will have to crack the Ballydoyle duo of Whirl and Bedtime Story who will bid to give Aidan O\u2019Brien a sixth victory in the 10-furlong feature, having also taken home the spoils with Opera Singer 12 months ago.<\/p>\n

Bedtime Story showed the ability that made her such an exciting juvenile last term when second in the French Oaks last month.<\/p>\n

However, it is Oaks runner-up Whirl who will carry chief Coolmore hopes having downed Andrew Balding\u2019s subsequent King George second Kalpana in tremendous fashion to claim the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a very straightforward, honest filly, she\u2019s so uncomplicated it\u2019s not funny,\u201d said O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the obvious race for her and it isn\u2019t over facing her, it\u2019s baby steps her way and that\u2019s why she\u2019s coming here. We\u2019ve been very happy with her since the Pretty Polly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SeeSee The Fire ran a big race in last year\u2019s Nassau Stakes (Mike Egerton\/PA)<\/p>\n

Balding takes another crack at Whirl, this time with See The Fire, who was thwarted by a neck in this race last year and reverts to competing against her own sex after a fine third behind Ombudsman in the Prince of Wales\u2019s Stakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has started this year in fabulous form and was very impressive in the Middleton, winning a Group Two in easy fashion. And then we thought she ran a super race at Ascot against the boys in the Prince of Wales\u2019s Stakes,\u201d said Balding, ahead of a race that guarantees a spot in the Maker\u2019s Mark Breeders\u2019 Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a three-year-old we didn\u2019t see the best of her until we got to the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood where she was narrowly beaten. Then she went on and won the Strensall Stakes against older colts at York.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is evidence to suggest she is improving all the time, and she certainly looks to have done physically. She is an exciting filly, and hopefully the best is to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

John and Thady Gosden\u2019s five-time scorer Running Lion completes the line-up, running at this distance for just the second time since her second in last October\u2019s Prix de l\u2019Opera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The experienced Irish handler has always thought of his star performer as a stayer in the making, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-33459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}