Guineas Favorite Quadrilateral Heads Fillies' Mile

Newmarket's Gold season reaches its climax this weekend, and first to take center stage are this year's crop of juvenile fillies on a bumper day of terrestrial TV action.

The bet365 Fillies' Mile (G1) is the highlight of eight live races on ITV4 Oct. 11, with quality flat fare from Newmarket and York, while Chepstow gets in on the act as the jumps season begins heating up.

While last weekend may not have yielded a historic third Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) for Enable, her owner, Khalid Abdullah, has an opportunity to seek some group 1 solace with the unbeaten Quadrilateral.

A daughter of Frankel, the Roger Charlton-trained Quadrilateral shot to the head of next season's QIPCO One Thousand Guineas (G1) market after a nine-length romp in her second Newbury outing. Quadrilateral holds sway in the ante-post betting at 10-1, and those odds will only contract for next year's classic should she succeed on the Rowley Mile.

While it is a big step up in class, Quadrilateral is favored to deliver for Charlton and give him a second group 1 of the season after Aspetar's victory in the Preis von Europa.

"She is a nice-looking filly, but it's a big step up from a conditions race to a group 1," said Teddy Grimthorpe, representing Abdullah. "First time out at Newbury was a good education as she looked a slow learner, picking up nicely in the closing stages to win. She was always traveling well the second time and put a lot of daylight between herself and the others. She has worked well since, and we will have a better idea about her after this."

Irish-trained horses have held the key to the race in recent seasons, and it could be a fiery finish, with the Jessica Harrington-trained Cayenne Pepper the chief market rival to Quadrilateral.

Harrington has had a fantastic season with her juveniles at home and abroad, and victory for Cayenne Pepper would complete a group 1 trifecta inside a month.

Now it is time for Cayenne Pepper to test her mettle at the highest level and attempt to stay unbeaten after three wins so far. 

Jockey Shane Foley has already said Cayenne Pepper is his favorite juvenile among Harrington's team, and the daughter of Australia holds strong claims. She won over a mile last time out and has proved versatile ground-wise.

"We have always liked Cayenne Pepper, and what she's done is already on the board," Harrington said. "She's 3-from-3, she's won on good ground, she's won on fast ground, and she won with a bit of ease in the ground at the Curragh last time.

"I was delighted with her victory in the Flame of Tara Stakes (G3) where she saw the mile out well. She made the running then and also on her previous start, but she doesn't have to lead," Harrington continued. "She's a straightforward filly who is very laid-back, so I can't imagine the traveling over to Newmarket would worry her. And she's a well-balanced individual who has won on a variety of tracks here in Ireland, so the dip should not be a problem, either."

Aidan O'Brien has a real affection for this group 1, and Love is seeking to become his sixth winner of the race. 

Love is already a group 1 winner, staying on strongly to land the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) at the Curragh last month, and is by far the most experienced runner in the field with six starts.

"Love hasn't done a lot since her Moyglare win, but she seems in good form," O'Brien said. "We've always thought she would be comfortable stepping up to a mile."

The form of Love's Moyglare win has been boosted on three occasions since. Runner-up Daahyeh and fifth-place Under The Stars (IRE) both won next time out, and sixth-place Albigna was a runaway winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac (G1) at ParisLongchamp.

Powerful Breeze and Boomer are closely matched on their William Hill May Hill Stakes (G2) form, and the pair square off again Friday.

Last time out at Doncaster, Powerful Breeze came out on top by a length in the Hill Stakes, but Boomer's trainer, Tom Dascombe, is hopeful of reversing that form.

"She's done well so far and ran a good race at Doncaster," Dascombe said. "I think we can ride her with a bit more confidence this time as we weren't sure she would get a mile, but she definitely did. It's a very good race, but she's fit, happy, and healthy. She'll run her race, and we'll find out if that's good enough."

When John Gosden has winners at Newcastle, they can be worth following, and Anastarsia was successful at the course last time out, but she takes a big jump in class.

"It looks a very strong race this year, and they will be competing on what probably is the best ground left in Europe," Gosden said. "Anastarsia won well at Newcastle when she made most of the running and deserves to take her chance and is the sort of filly who will thrive over middle distances next year."

Queen Daenerys, a course-and-distance winner last time, represents Roger Varian. Outsiders Ananya and group 3 winner West End Girl complete the field.