Santorini Star continues to rise with Arc weekend plan

Santorini Star will head to France for a tilt at Group One glory in Prix de Royallieu on Arc weekend following her gutsy performance in landing the Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster.

The four-year-old, trained by William Haggas, showed great determination in a fascinating battle with Consent to snatch the mile-and-six-furlong Group Two by a neck on Town Moor.

“Tom Marquand got off her and was very complimentary with the filly,” said Sean Graham, racing manager to Tony Bloom, who owns the filly in partnership with Ian McAleavy.

“He said, ‘look the mile and six (furlongs) is probably her minimum trip now. She stays it really, really well’.

“We were concerned there weren’t many front-runners in the race and we decided we didn’t want it to turn into a six-furlong sprint.

“Tom, wisely, when he came out of the stalls decided, ‘OK, if nobody wants to go make it, I’ll make’, and she looked beaten about six times inside the final furlong and a half.

“He said he was only cajoling her along in front and the first smack he gave her wasn’t until about a furlong and half out. He said she really picked up beneath him, and at the line she was probably going away again.

“She definitely fought off the second horse anyway, the filly in second was never getting by her.”

A trip to Paris now awaits for the daughter of Golden Horn, where a strong performance could shape her path for next season.

“Her next race will be the Prix de Royallieu, which is a mile and six on the Saturday of Arc weekend,” Graham continued. “I’d say that is probably her last run this year as well.

“I suppose she will be brought back next year with the view of trying to win a Group One. The Prix de Royallieu is a Group One, but even if she wins that, she’ll still be back next year.

“That’s because she didn’t run until the October of her three-year-old career, so she’s pretty lightly raced and she’s open to plenty of improvement.

“The programme for staying fillies is quite good and there’s plenty of opportunity to pick up more black type.

“She definitely stayed two miles in the handicap she won at York, she’s won the Park Hill over a mile and six, which is Group Two. Even races like the Irish St Leger might be on the radar as that’s a mile and six.

“I don’t think we will pigeon hole her and just run her at a mile and six because there’s probably not enough races at that distance, so she will have races at two miles as well.

“But a lot will depend on the conditions as well, I don’t think she will be wanting to run on very fast ground now either. So that will be another thing we will need to look at.”

He added: “She’s improved all year. William Haggas and his team have done brilliantly with her. They’ve brought her along and only raced her when she was ready to run and that’s why you get the benefits of the horse now, because William gave her so much time o early in career. It’s paid off.”