Charlie Appleby believes Desert Flower remains the ‘one to beat’ in next month’s Betfred 1000 Guineas after excelling in a racecourse gallop at Newmarket on Wednesday.
The daughter of Night Of Thunder signed off her two year old campaign unbeaten, culminating with an impressive victory in the Fillies’ Mile at the Rowley Mile back in October.
Having appeared to have done well with another winter on her back the Godolphin-owned three year old looked the part ahead of taking to the track for the seven furlong workout.
Tracking her lead horse through the early stages of the exercise Desert Flower barely needed to get out of second gear to sweep past her gallop companion to leave Appleby bullish about her Classic credentials.
Appleby said: “She has done great and had a great winter. A few people have asked me has she been in Dubai as she has got a great skin on her.
"Physically she has done very well and she is a powerful filly and she showed that in the autumn of her career last year.
“We were all there to see what we saw this morning and you can’t not be impressed by it. So far she has been straightforward.
"Those good horses can go on any ground and that is what she is showing is versatility in the conditions she has run on.
“When you have got those unbeaten fillies they are always exciting. I don’t feel the pressure as I enjoy having a nice filly.
“She has to be the one to beat. She is an unbeaten Group One winning filly.
“As we stand Aidan (O'Brien), and other operations, have got their fillies and I’m sure they will be very pleased how they are prepping, but we have all got to turn up here on the day in the best condition.”
Although Desert Flower, who also claimed Group Two honours last season in the May Hill Stakes at Doncaster, took time to get rolling in the Fillies Mile the Classic winning handler is confident that both that experience and today’s exercise will stand her in good stead.
Appleby added: “She is a funny filly and if you are one of those people that sit on the betting exchanges from the three pole to two pole you would be getting a little bit twitchy.
“She takes a little bit of organising, but once she organises herself, and finds that stride and rhythm, she sees it out well.
“I said to William (Buick) after Doncaster that with the dip here she might just lose herself a little bit in the Fillies’ Mile and at one stage you thought hang on a minute.
“But those that knew her thought if she just gets herself organised and hits the rising ground she will be away. She did it that day and I feel like she has done it again today.”
While the 1000 Guineas remains the first port of call for Desert Flower, a step up in trip for a tilt at the Betfred Oaks at Epsom Downs could also come onto the agenda later in the campaign according to Appleby.
He added: “I see no reason why she shouldn’t stay and step up in trip. Just with the size of her you hope she can handle the track at Epsom that is all. However, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
“The attributes that she has is that she can travel up to a certain stage and at Epsom I always feel it is one of those tracks you have to be a traveller. It is when you are behind the bridle that all the undulations start falling away from you.”
All roads lead to the BoyleSports Lockinge Stakes at Newbury for last season’s 2000 Guineas hero Notable Speech, who was also among those in early morning action before racing at the Rowley Mile today.
Appleby said: “I’m delighted with Notable Speech. He looks great and I’m very pleased. I wasn’t going to bring him up here, but I just thought as we have got the opportunity to come up here I thought we would come up and let him have an enjoyable day out.
“He has done what he has done and he looks great. We are looking towards the Lockinge with him.
“He is more ground dependent to be fair and we saw that at Longchamp, but that is why we went there. We were pretty confident he wasn’t going to handle it, but until you run on it you don’t know.
“We were hopeful that we were going to keep him in training as a four year old and we won’t waste a run on him this year by running him on slow ground.”
Following on from the Lockinge, Appleby is looking forward to giving the son of Dubawi the chance to atone for his blow out in the St James’s Palace Stakes at the Royal Ascot in the Queen Anne Stakes ahead of a return trip to the Breeders’ Cup.
And not only is Apppleby looking forward to Notable Speech bidding to add to his Group One tally, but he is also excited about taking on his old rival Rosallion once again.
He added: “The race everyone will be working back from is a Queen Anne all being well. It doesn’t really (linger on my mind his defeat at Royal Ascot).
“You have to remember he had a busy campaign for an unraced two year old. He turned up three times before the 2000 Guineas, he then went to Ascot and then got the break he deserved.
“You saw the horse he is in the Sussex Stakes, before he went to Longchamp on soft ground and then he went to America on quick ground, and he had been on the go since January.
“With America he learnt plenty. That is a different style of racing and he learnt plenty and it will be the race I will hopefully work back from again. A swansong around Del Mar for him we would enjoy that.
“I’m looking forward to taking on Rosallion again and as he is by Blue Point he is always going to be close to our heart.
"It is nice to see those stallions we were lucky enough to train become good stallions at the end of the day.”
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