2/1 favourite True Love saw off the persistent challenge of the well-backed Havana Anna (13/2) to win the Tattersalls Sceptre Sessions Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket.
She had excuses when beaten at 1/4 in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes last time and Aidan O’Brien’s filly roared back to her best on the Rowley Mile.
Very strong in the market beforehand, she powered through the race and came through to hit the front at the furlong pole.
However Wayne Lordan had to ask her serious questions upon meeting the rising ground to fend off the runner-up but she was going away at the line to win by three-quarters-of-a-length.
Royal Fixation (7/2) confirmed her Sky Bet Lowther superiority over America Queen but had to settle for third, a further length adrift.
Sky Bet and Paddy Power initially cut the winner to 16/1 from 25/1 for the Betfred 1000 Guineas but soon cut that to 12s.
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O’Brien said: “We are delighted with her. Wayne gave her a lovely ride and she is a fine, big powerful filly and she travelled well. Ryan (Moore) was very helpful to Wayne before the race and he told him to wait, and hold on, between the two and one pole with her. She is a big powerhouse and she is very quick.
“She has a great constitution and eats very well. She takes her races very well. She has a great mind, and you can see after the race she is very chilled. I couldn’t be happier really. The last day was a bit of a mess. Ryan felt he went the wrong way with her and the other one was gone. Ryan felt her last run wasn’t her run and he very was convinced about that and her work was very good. You couldn’t be happier with her today.
“We did (think she would be the one to beat). We took a chance with the other filly (Beautify) running her back quick and it might have been a little bit quick, but this was the big filly with the speed.
“I thought she would (get the better of Havana Anna). She put her head down when Wayne got hold of her. Wayne hadn’t got hold of her until the other filly joined him and you can see when he did catch a hold of her that her head went down and he was very strong on her.
“She came down the hill well and she came down the dip and didn’t get unbalanced for a big filly. I wouldn’t be sure (that she would stay a Guineas trip). She is by No Nay Never and he is a big influence for speed and she is a big and powerful. She is definitely not short of speed.
“She could go to America, but it will depend on what the lads want to do really. She is big, but she is quick and she has lots of speed as she travelled well through the race.”
Ed Walker said of Royal Fixation: “It was massive. I’m really proud of her and she ran huge. My expectations going into a Group One are never high, but my expectations went rapidly up between the four and the three pole. I thought when Will (Buick) started poking her into the race I thought she is absolutely tanking. I just thought she was going to win then and bolt up, but she just fell down the hill. It looked to me as if she hit the hill and didn’t know where her legs were going then she hit the rising ground and ran on again.
“I’m definitely not blaming the track. From thinking we are going to win went very quickly to ‘Oh, God this isn’t happening. The only thing in my opinion that added to that was coming into the dip. The Breeders’ Cup over a mile around a bend wasn’t an option coming into today as we thought this would be it and we would leave her until next year, but it might be an option now.
“Will was confident she wouldn’t get much further before, but is now very confident she will. She loves fast ground so that could be an option. “If you don’t train her for the Guineas you wait for the Commonwealth Cup. I’d imagine she might be trained for a French 1000 Guineas. We could run her in a Nell Gwyn and see if she has worked out the track, but who knows.”
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