Paris or Ascot assignments will come into view for Estrange

Estrange will set her sights on one of two big autumn Group One prizes after her second-placed run in the Yorkshire Oaks last week.

The four-year-old began her season with a Group Three win at Listed level at Haydock, after which she returned to the same track to take the Group Two Lancashire Oaks.

She continued to progress up the levels on the Knavesmire, facing a stiff task carrying a penalty for her age and facing dual Oaks heroine Minnie Hauk on ground quicker than ideal.

While the latter was ultimately a convincing winner, Estrange was a long way from being disgraced when beaten three and a half lengths for trainer David O’Meara under Danny Tudhope.

“She did very well, we thought she ran a blinder,” said Chris Richardson, managing director of owners Cheveley Park Stud.

“We were in two minds as to whether or not to run because of the ground, but it was only a four-runner race and a Group One at a premier track.

“We wanted to run if we could, I think the public wanted to see her and the racecourse wanted her to run.

“The ground wasn’t ideal, I’d have loved that shower of rain that I imagined was going to happen, but she ran very well and it’s no disgrace to be beaten giving 9lb to a dual Classic winner and probably the best three-year-old filly around.”

Both the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot and the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe are under consideration for the grey’s next outing, as is the prospect of her delaying her broodmare career and returning to training next season.

Richardson said: “We could go straight for the Arc now or we could go to Ascot, I don’t think she’ll have a run in between, it just depends on what happens with the ground. But it has got to rain at some point, so hopefully we can get some soft ground in autumn.

“She’s given us a great deal of pleasure already and we will see how things unravel during the rest of the year, Mrs Thompson hasn’t decided whether she will be retiring at the end of the season or possibly staying in training next year.

“They are a long time in the paddock when they go off to have babies, and she missed out on her two-year-old year so perhaps she could keep going in 2026.”