Fillies' Mile Tips: Godolphin Filly Set To Bloom

The feature race on Friday at Newmarket is the Group 1 Fillies' Mile, and a field of seven will clash at flat racing HQ to determine the latest winner of this prestigious two year old contest. Billy Grimshaw has you covered with a preview of the contest and his idea of the winner...

Of the seven entrants, three come from Ballydoyle and earlier in the week betting sites were of the opinion Dreamy was the most likely winner, probably on the assumption Ryan Moore would take the ride. The top jockey for Aidan O'Brien has instead been allocated January and as such she has been cut from as big as 16/1 into as short as 4s in a place, which shows the power of both Moore and the fabled Ballydoyle jockey bookings system.

This does not totally discount Dreamy however, and in recent months her rider Sean Levey has had his best day in Coolmore silks when winning the St Leger aboard Jan Breughel. Despite the fact Moore is onboard January, I would probably have Dreamy shorter in the market here given the fact the American Pharoah filly has looked the more progressive of the two. I do agree with Ballet Slippers being the least likely of the trio to win here as although she won at Ascot over a mile, that stiffer test suited her more and in time she will be aimed at middle distances one suspects on run style and breeding.

Arc winning connections team up once again with Rossa Ryan riding a Ralph Beckett trained Juddmonte filly Tabiti and she is sandwiched between the two Ballydoyle main hopes in the market at the time of writing. She has shown her talents thus far over shorter than this, landing a seven furlong race and a G3 over six at Salisbury for good measure. While she clearly has the speed, she should also have the stamina too on pedigree and with the connections still undoubtedly on cloud nine she rates the main danger to my pick and favourite DESERT FLOWER in my opinion.

There seems to have been a clear move from Godolphin to target stateside group races this season, with far more prize money on offer and less competition. It has proven successful but has greatly hampered the chances of Charlie Appleby and William Buick on these shores, with the pair having one of their quieter seasons in some time. Nevertheless, this filly has looked to be one of their real flag bearers and with three victories already to her name, including a decisive win over January, I think she will take all the beating here.

The classy Night Of Thunder filly is ground versatile and has won races in different styles, so as far as two year old fillies go she looks as straightforward as they come and is clearly blessed with a lovely change of gear. She is third favourite at present for the 1000 Guineas in 2025 but with an emphatic win here could well usurp Fairy Godmother and maybe even Lake Victoria to be outright market leader.

Despite being a tad keen last time out when dispatching January in the May Hill Stakes, William Buick always looked confident he had a good one beneath him and when he asked her to quicken up and win her race she oozed class in doing so. I'm fairly sure this is a top class filly in the making and while I am wary of Tabiti in particular, I'd make Desert Flower more of an even money chance myself in here so 5/4 is worth getting stuck into with our friends at BoyleSports.