Journey Resumed

Having finished a respectable third in the G2 Middleton S. over 10 furlongs at York May 12, George Strawbridge's Journey (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) goes back up to a more suitable trip for Haydock's G3 Pinnacle S. on Saturday. Being a daughter of her owner-breeder's 2006 G1 Prix Royal-Oak heroine Montare (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), she should relish the return to this longer distance, over which she won Newmarket's Listed Princess Royal S. by eight lengths in September before finishing runner-up to Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. on Ascot's Champions Day fixture the following month. Trainer John Gosden also saddles the Listed Noel Murless S. winner Mill Springs (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) and the Listed River Eden Fillies' S. runner-up California (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), who have to progress markedly to feature here. “Journey is in good form and I am happy with her,” Gosden said. “The step up in trip on the easier ground will be to her liking. It was a good-class race she ran in at York and she ran a very good race. On ratings, she is the one they have to beat and she is the obvious one out of my three.” Of his other runners, Gosden added, “Mill Springs is making her comeback and this is the minimum trip for her. We did want to run her early on in the campaign and we had her entered up at Nottingham over a mile and three quarters and in the Sagaro at Ascot, but she hadn't come quite right. She is a filly that we are really training for races like the Park Hill and the Lillie Langtry later in the season.” He added, “California has taken a while to come to herself and she is probably not quite there yet, but she needs to get back on the track.”

Last year's winner Miss Marjurie (Ire) (Marju {Ire}) has strong claims on her fifth placing, beaten just over a length, in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks in August, but she has a question mark over her after her only subsequent outing when sixth behind Carnachy (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in Goodwood's Listed Daisy Warwick S. over a mile and a half Apr. 30. Trainer Denis Coakley commented, “She seems in good form and hopefully she will run well. Things didn't quite work out for her at Goodwood last time. They went a bit slow and that didn't suit her. I would hope you could put a line through that run, as she seems in the same sort of form at home she did last year. Hopefully she should be okay on the ground.”