St Leger Festival Day One Preview (Park hill Fillies Stakes)Thu 14th Sep 2023

Day one of the St Leger Festival.Plenty rain about with 21 mm falling on Tuesday ,ground conditions are described as soft .Not easy card to start the meeting .The most interesting race on the card looks to be the 1M 6F G2 Park Hill Stakes at 3.35 

Betfred Park Hill Fillies' Stakes (Group 2) (Fillies & Mares) (Class 1) (3yo+) Winner £82,230 10 runners 1m6f115y Soft ITV4 (STALLS Inside)

 

race conditions  £145,000 guaranteed For  3yo+ fillies & mares Weights  3yo 8st 11lb; 4yo+ 9st 7lb
Penalties  after March 31st, 2023, a winner of a Group 2 race 3lb; of a Group 1 race 5lb Weight for age  3yo from 4yo 10lb Entries  18 pay £725 Penalty value  1st  £82,229.50 2nd  £31,175.00 3rd  £15,602.00 4th  £7,772.00 5th  £3,900.50 6th  £1,957.50 

 

Testing conditions for this 1M 6F group two contest for fillies & mares .Not the strongest looking G2 contest The three-year-old Nathaniel filly SUMO SAM  should relish these conditions, after winning the G2 Lillie Langtry stakes impressively by 6L at Goodwood last month,that was career best effort on her first start over 1M 6F .Had shown bits and pieces of form over shorter trips ,including finishing second to Running Lion in Pretty Polly stakes at Newmarket in May,though seem relish the step up to 1M 6F on testing conditions .Has 3lb group two penalty to overcome ,though gets handy 7lb off the older fillies. Odds around 4-1 look solid e-w value,especially with William Hills paying 4 places .

 

Of the others Golden Lyra & Ching Shih both have each-way claims ,Golden Lyra goes well on testing conditions, including winning 12f listed race at Saint-Cloud at the end of last season on heavy ground, also finished fair fourth of 10 in G2 company at Deauville last time ,staying on nicely at finishing .Looks open to improvement over this longer trip .Ching Shih ran creditable second too live St Leger hope Arrest at Newbury last time over 1M 5F , that looked fair effort giving that rival 3lb, not the easiest horse to win with, the only victory coming in Novice stakes in 2021, though goes well in these conditions .

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VERDICT : (1) SUMO SAM (2) GOLDEN LYRA (3) CHING SHIH 

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RECOMMENDED BET THURSDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 

SUMO SAM 3.35 PARK HILL FILLIES STAKES

0.50 PTS EACH-WAY @ 4-1 WILLIAM HILLS (1/5 ODDS 1-2-3-4 )

(WINNER SP 4-1JF PROFIT £240/2.40 PTS )