David Lanigan has confirmed the British Champions Fillies’ And Mares’ Stakes at Ascot as the next port of call for Meeznah.
A tilt at the Melbourne Cup had been mooted following her impressive performance in the Park Hill at Doncaster’s St Leger meeting, but connections have now decided against a trip Down Under.
“She worked very well (on Wednesday morning) over a mile (1600m) and all going well the plan is for her to go to Ascot for the fillies’ race on Champions Day (October 15),” Lanigan said.
“It’s hard to tell what is going to turn up for it yet, but our filly has done everything right and the owners were keen to run over a mile and a half (2400m).
“We’ve talked about the Breeders’ Cup but the Filly And Mare Turf is over a mile and three (furlongs, 2200m), and that might be a bit short.
“We’re just taking it one step at a time at the moment, but hopefully we’ll get her to Ascot if they get good ground.
“There isn’t too much rain forecast I don’t think, so it should be all right.”
Looking further ahead, Lanigan is hopeful the four-year-old will remain in training next season.
“That is up to the owners, but I’d obviously love to carry on training her,” Lanigan said.
“If you look at Dynaformer’s (stallion) statistics, his progeny tend to get better when they are five and six and this filly has relatively low mileage on the clock.”
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