Highfield Princess became the fourth Yorkshire trained filly to win the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York in the last 8 years, taking the race in convincing fashion in front of packed stands on the Knavesmire.
The filly, a five year old daughter of Night Of Thunder, had made her handicap debut some 24 starts earlier off a lowly mark of 57. Unraced at two, she took some time to get to grips with things but since winning on her fifth start her progress has been relentless.
Her preparation for York had involved a trip to France for the Prix Maurice de Gheest over six and a half furlongs. She’d won there, her first Group 1 triumph, and was well backed today to follow that up, although, remarkably, her win in the Nunthorpe was her first victory over the minimum trip. Her previous 10 wins had mainly been over 7 furlongs with the Maurice de Gheest victory and her win in the Duke of York Stakes earlier this year being her only victories at a shorter trip than 7 furlongs.
In the race Hollie Doyle had the blisteringly fast two year old filly The Platinum Queen up at the front early and the searching gallop ideally suited the strong staying Highfield Princess, who was prominent throughout. Once the race reached the final furlong and a half The Platinum Queen showed signs of either tiredness or greenness, wandering slightly in front, and that was all Highfield Princess’s jockey Jason Hart needed to see as he drove his filly past, winning convincingly at the line by two and a half lengths.
Trainer John Quinn suggested afterwards that Highfield Princess would have two more runs, “We put her in the Foret and the Abbaye, so all being well two more runs – Foret or Abbaye, and the Breeders’ Cup.”
For her Yorkshire jockey Jason Hart the win was extra special. “She gave me my first Group One winner a couple of weeks ago and it probably means more today to do it on home soil. She deserved it.
“I was really confident, the two-year-old was giving us a nice tow and I thought I’d be able to pick her up whenever I wanted really. I thought if I could just hold her together for the middle part of the race she’d finish her race off.”
