The Classics, Royal Ascot and York all came and went while So Mi Dar was recovering from an injury after her win in the Musidora Stakes in May but she should get at least one chance to put a Group One victory on her three-year-old record after a smooth and convincing return to action here on Wednesday.
Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber, So Mi Dar’s owners, travelled to the Norfolk coast from Ireland to see their filly line up under Frankie Dettori for the Listed John Musker Fillies Stakes. About 6,000 racegoers needed no further encouragement to send her off as the 11-8 favourite to beat a field that included Arabian Queen, who beat the Derby winner Golden Horn in last year’s International Stakes, and several more lightly raced but promising opponents.
Dettori was in control at every stage. Arabian Queen took up her familiar role in front but So Mi Dar matched her pace from a couple of lengths away in third without moving out of second gear. Maybelater briefly grabbed the lead a couple of furlongs out but Dettori had Jonathan Portman’s runner covered as well.
All that remained was for So Mi Dar to show that she still has the turn of speed which won her the Musidora. She does and Dettori was able to ease down in the closing stages to beat Nezwaah by half a length with Arabian Queen another three-quarters of a length away in third.
“We got her here ready to run but she wasn’t fully wound up for a Group One,” Dettori said. “She’s won with a penalty and she was silky smooth.”
Rachel Hood represented her husband John Gosden, the trainer of So Mi Dar, who is at the Kentucky yearling sales. “Horses are living, breathing creatures and things happen and you just hope that, if something does happen, it’s something that they can recover from,” Hood said.
“We wanted her back on the track and she’s done it well and hopefully she’ll come on a lot for that. It was sort of event-free, which is always what you look for. She’s had a good experience and that’s also part of the equation.
“The main thing is to see her come back and be happy and be excited to be at the races without being over-excited. The Musidora was the middle of May. She had to get over the injury, which was six weeks or longer actually, and like any athlete, you have to build up their fitness slowly and keep them happy.”
The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe meeting at Chantilly on 2 October is two and a half weeks away and offers the first of several possible Group One targets for So Mi Dar over the next two months. She remains unbeaten after four starts but, though three-year-old fillies have a strong record in the Arc in recent seasons, she is much more likely to line up for the Prix de l’Opera, over 10 furlongs.
“I think we will have to have a look at Chantilly now,” Lady Lloyd Webber said. “It would be fairly bullish to go for the main event, so we’ll probably stick [to racing her] against her own sex and maybe next year we’ll try to win an Arc.”
Dettori went on to complete a 24-1 treble on Al Neksh (5-6) and Fastnet Tempest (3-1), while Silvestre de Sousa and Jim Crowley, who were separated by three winners in the race for the Flat jockeys’ title at the start of the day, both had rides on the Yarmouth card and both left the track with a single winner.
Crowley struck first on Shypen in the second race to move to 103 for the season but de Sousa responded in the last as Highly Sprung ran on strongly to finish five lengths clear of his field and move his rider into three figures for the campaign.
Both riders will take advantage of the relatively short journey to ride at both Yarmouth in the afternoon and Chelmsford City’s evening meeting on Thursday.
At Sandown Frankel’s outstanding first season as a sire continued when Atty Persse made a successful debut in a one-mile maiden, winning by nearly two lengths despite showing signs of his inexperience. He could now be steered towards the Group One Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster on 22 October.
