Abingdon, in the pale blue colours made famous by the late Lord Weinstock, took the Listed race run in his memory at Newbury on Thursday afternoon by half a length under Ryan Moore.
Abingdon, a 2-1 chance, was sent to the front three furlongs out and while she was slowing as the line approached, she held the late charge of Beauly with Snow Moon, the favourite, back in third.
Abingdon is owned by Ballymacoll Stud, which produced several leading performers for Lord Weinstock during his long career on the turf.
“She is a big strong filly that probably wants further than a mile-and-a-quarter,” Peter Reynolds, the stud’s spokesman, said. “We don’t get in the winner’s enclosure very often, but we are quite excited about her. She is the first foal of a Galileo mare that didn’t race.
“It is great for the filly to win our own race. The last time we did that was with Eleanora Duse [in 2010] and she went on to win a Group Two. The [Group Two] Lancashire Oaks might well be a race we look at. People wanted us to supplement her for the Ribblesdale but we didn’t want to jump from a maiden to a Group Two.”
Meanwhile, trainer Henry Candy will send two of his Royal Ascot team for a gallop at Newbury on Friday.
Group One winner Twilight Son and promising filly La Rioja will put their credentials to the test as they aim to confirm their spots in the Diamond Jubilee and Commonwealth Cup respectively.
Twilight Son returned to action with a decent effort in the Duke of York Stakes when he carried a penalty but La Rioja could manage only fifth behind Quiet Reflection in the Sandy Lane at Haydock.
“She’s [La Rioja] doing work here in the morning,” said Candy, speaking at the Berkshire track. “She will need to work well to take her chance. However, I’m quite pleased with her at the moment.
“Twilight Son is very well, but is becoming lazy. He’ll be coming here in the morning which should sharpen him up a bit. Ideally he would like a bit of cut in the ground next week.”
