Fitzella delights Hugo Palmer in ‘booking Ascot ticket’

Fitzella “booked her ticket” to Royal Ascot with a thoroughly professional display in winning the Betfred ‘Supporting Macmillan’ EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes at Haydock.

Showing the benefit of a debut second at Ascot, when belying odds of 33-1 to go down by just a neck against Godolphin hotpot Military Code, Hugo Palmer’s Too Darn Hot filly was fast into her stride under Oisin Murphy and made all of the running over six furlongs.

Richard Hannon’s Tahalel, who cost €500,000 as a yearling, had been backed into 6-5 favourite, but she could not lay a glove on 5-4 shot Fitzella, who kept on strongly from the front to beat her market rival by three and a half lengths.

Palmer told Racing TV: “I’m relieved more than anything. When you’ve got one you like and they are odds-on all morning and then I went in to watch the screen and I realised she wasn’t even favourite, you can imagine my stomach was doing backflips.

“But she’s done it with the minimum of fuss, which is obviously what we hoped she’d do. We’ve loved her from day one, she was I think our most expensive yearling last year (£170,000) and every day at home, she’s lived up to that.

“Everything we’ve done with her at home, she’s learned and done it so much better the next time, and that’s exactly what she’s done today.

“Obviously, she’s going to go up massively in grade, I think she has to. Oisin said that she’s booked her ticket to Ascot and if I were you, I’d go over six. Oisin feels, and I think I agree with him, that she’s potentially a miler.

“She’s gorgeous, she’s beautifully bred and yes, she’s booked her ticket for the Albany.”

Fitzella was cut to 10-1 from 16s for the Albany with Coral, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power.

Frost At Dawn was another to blaze a trail throughout in the Women In Racing/British EBF Cecil Frail Listed Stakes over the same trip, giving Murphy a quick double.

William Knight’s four-year-old, who has entries in the King Charles III Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at the Royal meeting, faced late challenges across the track from Prime Art and Nighteyes but the 9-5 chance battled on to oblige by a neck and half a length.

Murphy said: “There was plenty of wind in this compared to the two-year-old race and she maybe did well to make her own running. It was a real pace collapse late but she showed a good attitude.

“She’s been busy over the last few weeks but running to a very good level and I’m delighted to see her win.”

Wild Desert took his first step towards upholding family honour with a successful debut in the Betfred Supports Jack Berry House Novice Stakes over seven furlongs.

Charlie Appleby’s colt is a half-brother to last year’s champion two-year-old Shadow Of Light and fellow Group One-winning juvenile Earthlight and he got better and better as the race went on, eventually pulling clear to prevail by five lengths at even money.

Jockey Billy Loughnane said: “He did everything very professionally. Obviously, he’s got a super page and it was very straightforward really.

“I managed to get a bit of a lead into the straight, it took a while for the penny to drop but when it did in the last three-parts of a furlong, I really liked his attitude.”