Geoff Oldroyd admits he would have preferred another month to have prepared Ladies Are Forever ahead of her seasonal return in the Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket tomorrow.
The Monsieur Bond filly made a big impression on her racecourse bow at Beverley last May and she then ran a huge race to finish third in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot.
She confirmed that was no fluke with a Listed-race triumph on her final juvenile start at Redcar and Oldroyd is excited about the season ahead.
‘We're looking forward to running her and she has shown the same ability as last year at home,’ said Oldroyd.
‘She has grown a lot and I would have been happier if this month was a month later, as I think she'll be a lot stronger by then.
‘She's working well and her lead horse and full-sister, Forever's Girl, won at Wolverhampton on Monday.
‘She has been a lead horse from the start, so those are quite good vibes.
‘There is a question mark about whether she'll stay the seven furlongs, but I think she will.
‘She's not a tearaway - she's quite a reserved filly and she only does more or less what you ask her.
‘Silvestre (De Sousa, jockey) has been in to ride her and he's quite happy too. He thinks she'll stay all right.
‘We've had a good run up to the race and if she does get the seven furlongs well, I think you're entitled to have a crack at the Guineas.
‘We'd be hoping for a good run, but I do think she'll be a physically stronger filly in a month's time.
‘You have to go when you have to go though, and we'll see what happens.’
Mick Channon's Show Rainbow rounded off last year with a heavy-ground maiden success at Leicester and Bruce Raymond, racing manager to owner Jaber Abdullah, is looking forward to seeing how she fares on her seasonal return.
‘She's going to be a big price but she's done exceptionally well over the winter,’ said Raymond.
‘She's a big, strong filly and maybe this is a bit ambitious, but we think she's going to be well up to
‘I think she'll definitely be a Group Three filly, but whether she's bang on for tomorrow, I'm not sure.
‘This is going to tell us where we're going to go with her and I think she'll like the better ground.
‘She won her maiden in heavy ground at Leicester, but we were surprised how well she handled it.’
Raymond also looks after the interests of owner Saeed Manana, who is represented by the Clive Brittain-trained Elshabakiya in this race.
‘She ran a good race to finish second to Dubawi Gold at Lingfield last month and she has shown marked improvement since then, so we are expecting a bold show from her,’ Raymond added.
Richard Hannon's Sweet Cecily won a Listed race at the track last October and the trainer has been pleased with her recent homework.
He told his website: ‘Sweet Cecily won the Bosra Sham Stakes over the course at the back-end, and she steps up to seven furlongs for the Nell Gwyn.
‘We see no reason why she should not stay the longer trip and she worked well on Sunday.’
