By Tom Frary
Newmarket's seven-furlong fillies' maiden on Saturday carried much intrigue and produced a tight finish with Victorious Forever and Duaij Al Khalifa's €1.1million Arqana May Breeze-Up topper Lex Victoria (Sioux Nation) prevailing.
Sent off at 4-1, the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained chestnut forced the early pace and when tackled at the business end by the Gosdens' runner Thi Qar (Mehmas) dug in to score by a neck. There was another 4 1/2 lengths back to the Roger Varian-trained Watch Party (Lope De Vega), Mike Repole's first British-trained runner, in third.
“We're delighted. She's a big filly and still quite a way up behind, so whatever she did today she was going to improve on,” the winning owner's representative Chris Wall said. “They were a bunch of nice-looking fillies with good pedigrees and she had to make her own running, which wasn't the plan but showed a good attitude and kept fighting all the way to the line.”
“We won this with Zanthos last year, but they are different models physically and mentally as this filly is more laid-back and will get further in time,” he added. “She'd shown a bit in her work at home, but we knew she was going to improve on what she did today so we can look forward to her. Apparently she was very nearly at the top of the tree according to the data at the Sales and she had scope, she wasn't going to be something that would fade after Ascot and is a filly with an engine. We'll discuss with the team what the plan is, whether it's a novice for more experience, but she might have another growing spurt and we have to put her away for the year, we'll see.”
Two nice horses …
leads home Thi Qar in the @Tattersalls1766 £40,000 @BritishEBF Newcomers' “Confined” Maiden Fillies' Stakes @NewmarketRace @gainsboroughHQ's winner (Sioux Nation) topped the 2026 @InfoArqana May Breeze Up Sale at €1.1m … pic.twitter.com/0Px2qs6vw8
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 8, 2026
The dam, who was a Listed winner in Germany and was twice runner-up in the Prix de Seine-et-Oise, also has a filly foal by Gleneagles. The second dam is the dual Group 3 winner Ricine (Titus Livius), whose other daughter of note was the Listed scorer Roero (Acclamation).
3rd-Newmarket, £40,000, Mdn, 8-8, 2yo, f, 7fT, 1:28.59, g/f.
LEX VICTORIA (IRE) (f, 2, Sioux Nation–Porthilly {Fr} {SW-Ger, MGSP-Fr}, by Pivotal {GB}) Sales history: 98,000gns Ylg '25 TATOCT; €1,100,000 2yo '26 ARQBRU. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $27,817. O-Victorious Forever & Duaij Al Khalifa; B-Oliver Pawle; T-Simon & Ed Crisford.
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