Horse Racing News: Nassau Stakes and Yorkshire Oaks Targeted for Bluestocking After Group One Glory
Bluestocking, the impressive winner of the Group One Pretty Polly Stakes in Ireland last weekend, is now being eyed for top-tier races at Goodwood and York later this summer. The four-year-old filly trained by Ralph Beckett made a breakthrough at the highest level, showing grit and talent to overpower the highly-regarded Emily Upjohn in the Irish contest.
Juddmonte’s European racing manager Barry Mahon reported that Bluestocking has bounced back well from her Irish exertions, paving the way for a possible tilt at the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood and the Yorkshire Oaks. “She came out of it great, Ralph was very happy with her. She’s a tough old mare to be fair to her,” Mahon said.
The daughter of Camelot had earlier made an impressive start to her campaign by winning the Middleton Stakes at York. Mahon acknowledged that the filly had matured significantly from her three-year-old season, when she was described as “a big, immature three-year-old and a weak filly.”
“She was gutsy and showed good determination to get up on Saturday. She’s threatened to deliver that for a while now, so it’s nice to actually get it done,” Mahon added.
The Nassau Stakes at Goodwood and the Yorkshire Oaks at York appear to be the logical next targets for the in-form Bluestocking as she continues her ascent to the top of the distaff division.
Another Juddmonte-owned horse to catch the eye last weekend was Nostrum, who made an encouraging comeback in the Criterion Stakes at Newmarket. The Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt, a promising juvenile who had struggled in his three-year-old campaign, finished a close second in the Group Three contest.
“It was great to see him back and I think he’s just ready now to get going again,” Mahon said. “He’d obviously had a time of it since his last run at Sandown, so it was nice to see him behave well and settle well and finish the race off well. There were a lot of positives there, hopefully we’re on our way back to where we’d hope we’d be and we’ll look forward to his next run.”
With Bluestocking eyeing more Group One glory and Nostrum on the comeback trail, the Juddmonte operation has reason for optimism as the summer racing season gathers pace.
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