Pershaada on the Lyric Fantasy trail in Nunthorpe

With Glorious Goodwood over, thoughts naturally turn to the Ebor meeting and no doubt plenty of Goodwood runners will be making their next start at York in a few weeks’ time. That’s certainly the plan for the King George Stakes winner American Affair who is prominent in the betting for the Nunthorpe, along with last year’s Nunthorpe winner Asfoora who was a close fourth at Goodwood, while the other two involved in a tight finish to the King George, Rumstar and Time For Sandals, are among other Nunthorpe possibles from that race.

But after taking advantage of the second entry stage last week, another Goodwood winner is set to take her chance in the Nunthorpe with two-year-old filly Pershaada, winner of the Molecomb Stakes, adding interest to the race by taking on her elders.

Trained by Richard Hannon, Pershaada has improved with each of her runs. She was beaten at short odds on her first two starts in the spring on the all-weather but has started living up to her reputation since, getting off the mark in a novice at Goodwood in May before progressing again in the Queen Mary Stakes. Sent off at 33/1, she kept on in the near-side group for fourth in that huge field, form which entitled her to start favourite for the Molecomb. The Queen Mary form is working out well and, after having to wait for a gap, Pershaada was a ready winner by two lengths, inflicting a first defeat on the runner-up Adonius (race replay below).

The Hannon stable knows what it takes to win the Nunthorpe with a two-year-old filly. In 1992, Lyric Fantasy, trained by Richard Hannon senior, became the first two-year-old to win the Nunthorpe since the 1950s (there were three two-year-old winners that decade) and she remains the only filly of that age to be successful.

Lyric Fantasy wasn’t the best two-year-old that year, or even the best two-year-old filly – Sayyedati ended her unbeaten record when beating her in the Cheveley Park Stakes – but she was rarely out of the headlines, with her Racehorses essay claiming that ‘her achievements at two have already ensured her place in racing folklore.’

Lyric Fantasy had already made a big impact against her own age group well before taking on her elders at York. She won the Queen Mary Stakes in breathtaking fashion by an official five lengths (it looked further) in record time and gave another dazzling performance from the front, winning by six lengths this time, in just the second running of the Super Sprint at Newbury. The first edition of that race had been won by Paris House who went on to finish second in the Nunthorpe that year, and Paris House’s trainer Jack Berry, bidding to go one better with that colt, was on record as saying he couldn’t see how Lyric Fantasy could be beaten at York.

He was proved right, with Lyric Fantasy taking her unbeaten record to five races as the 8/11 favourite. Ridden with a bit more restraint this time, she quickened immediately once leading a furlong and a half out and ran on strongly to hold the late challenge of her four-year-old stablemate Mr Brooks, the July Cup and subsequent Prix de l’Abbaye winner, by half a length.

Two-year-olds are entitled to a considerable weight allowance from their elders in the Nunthorpe, and Lyric Fantasy was in receipt of almost two stone from the runner-up. Her rider, South African jockey Michael Roberts who went on to be champion in Britain that season, managed to get down to 7-8, 4 lb lower than his usual minimum, to ride in the Nunthorpe though still had to put up a pound overweight in accordance with the official weight-for-age scale at the time.

The Hannon team have Silvestre de Sousa lined up to ride Pershaada in the Nunthorpe because Sean Levey, who has ridden her in all bar one of her races, won't be able to make her very light weight, though the allotted weights for horses of all ages in the Nunthorpe are higher these days than when Lyric Fantasy won the race.

For example, four-year-old colts and geldings are set to carry 9-13 and two-year-olds colts and geldings 8-3. However, the race conditions state that in the event of a two-year-old filly like Pershaada being declared, all weights will be raised by 2 lb to reduce the likelihood of a rider having to put up overweight as Roberts had to.

Weight-for-age is often misunderstood, and even some racing professionals often talk of the weight allowance which younger horses receive from their elders, usually three-year-olds as two-year-olds rarely race outside their own age group, as though it is some kind of advantage. Far from being a ‘freebie’, it’s a way of levelling the playing field, mitigating the advantage enjoyed by their more mature, and therefore faster, rivals. At least in theory. Because, of course, the weight for age scale is based on, for example, what an average three-year-old should be capable of conceding to an average two-year-old over a given distance at a certain stage of the season.

Results from the Nunthorpe this century would appear to suggest that two-year-olds are not favourably treated in the Nunthorpe. Since 2006 (there were no two-year-old runners between 2000 and 2005), 17 have taken their chance, with 11 of those failing to even make the first ten. But among the rest, Radiohead was third in 2009, the fillies Acapulco and The Platinum Queen were runner-up in 2015 and 2022 respectively, while the only two-year-old winner since Lyric Fantasy was Kingsgate Native in 2007.

As if that didn’t make him an unusual enough Nunthorpe winner, Kingsgate Native was also a maiden, though he had shown smart form in finishing second in good company in both his previous starts, the Windsor Castle Stakes and the Molecomb. Acapulco was sent off the 13/8 favourite for her Nunthorpe after storming away with the Queen Mary and was only pegged back late by Mecca’s Angel when attempting to burn off her rivals again at York. An imposing type in complete contrast to ‘pocket rocket’ Lyric Fantasy, Acapulco was trained by Wesley Ward who looks set to saddle the Nunthorpe favourite again this year, this time with the three-year-old colt Bacio who looked a Group 1 sprinter in the making when so impressive in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap at Royal Ascot.

The Platinum Queen was the latest two-year-old filly to go close in the Nunthorpe, beaten only by five-year-old mare Highfield Princess. In the same ownership as Pershaada, Middleham Park Racing, and trained by Richard Fahey, The Platinum Queen had finished down the field in the Queen Mary on her only previous start in pattern company, though had outclassed her rivals in the Alice Keppel Fillies’ Conditions Stakes at Goodwood, recording a quicker time than the Molecomb winner (another Hannon-trained filly Trillium) earlier that afternoon. The Platinum Queen did go on to beat older rivals, though, becoming the first two-year-old for 44 years to win the Prix de l’Abbaye.

But while the results might suggest otherwise, according to Timeform’s own weight-for-age scale, which differs from the official, two-year-olds get an overly generous weight allowance in the Nunthorpe. Two-year-olds receive 24 lb from three-year-olds and 26 lb from older horses over five furlongs in the second half of August on the BHA scale, compared with 13 lb and 16 lb respectively on Timeform’s.

That ought to mean that more two-year-olds should be contesting the Nunthorpe and more of them should be going close to winning it. But even a generous weight allowance can’t make up for a two-year-old simply not being good enough. The average Timeform rating going into the race of those 17 two-year-olds in the Nunthorpe is 106. Given that it usually takes a performance of at least 120 to win most Nunthorpes, that leaves most two-year-olds with plenty of improvement to find. Significantly, Acapulco (117p) and Kingsgate Native (115p) were those with the highest ratings of the 17 beforehand.

Not many two-year-olds have shown smart form by August in any given year, fewer still over five furlongs. No two-year-old has reached that level yet this season, and, welcome though her presence will be, Pershaada’s rating of 103 after the Molecomb suggests a lot more improvement will be needed for her to trouble her elders at York.

More from Sporting Life

• Free bets
• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.al

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.