Halford mapping out route to York

The filly will head to Naas on July 20 before travelling over to Knavesmire for the Group One showpiece.

Last seen winning the Sapphire Stakes at the Curragh, Halford believes she deserves a crack at the highest level.

“She’s in very good form,” said Halford.

“I think I’ll wait for Naas with her, we’ll go there for a six-furlong fillies’ race.

“After that, if she’s still in good form, we’ll go for the Nunthorpe at York. She’s got rock solid form and on good ground we’d let her take her chance.”

Andre Fabre has another leading three-year-old colt on his hands in the shape of Mutual Trust after his narrow victory in the Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly yesterday.

Fresh from Fabre landing his first Epsom Derby with Pour Moi, Mutual Trust maintained his unbeaten record under Maxime Guyon at the chief expense of Aidan O’Brien’s Zoffany and Richard Hannon’s Strong Suit.

Strong Suit was attempting to give Hannon and Richard Hughes their second successive win in the race after Dick Turpin 12 months ago, having returned to his best in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot following a successful breathing operation.

Hughes decided to make the running on Strong Suit but set only a sedate pace as Mutual Trust followed him into the straight.

At the business end Strong Suit initially showed a better turn of foot and held a definite advantage approaching the final furlong, while Ryan Moore was furiously trying to get Zoffany into contention.

Strong Suit began to tire with 100 yards to go, allowing Fabre’s colt and Zoffany their chance and as the three crossed the line together, Mutual Trust was given the verdict by a head from Zoffany with a nose to Strong Suit.

“He is a very promising colt,” said Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to winning owner Khalid Abdullah. “He showed lots of tenacity to go with his obvious class. So far he has gone through the gears from a maiden to a conditions race and then a Group Three and now a Group One. He’s a high-class horse.

“The options now are fairly obvious over a mile. There’s the Prix du Moulin and the Prix Jacques le Marois, where I suppose we could meet Goldikova.”

Veteran Arundel trainer John Dunlop landed the Prix Chloe with the Benny Andersson-owned Beatrice Aurore.

Sixth in the Oaks behind Dancing Rain, it was another boost to her form after fifth-placed Misty For Me won the Pretty Polly Stakes last weekend.

John Hills’s Norfolk Stakes runner-up Boomerang Bob had to settle for second again in the Prix du Bois, won by Family One.

Yann Barberot’s Family One got first run on the English raider and it proved a race-winning move a furlong and a half out by Ioritz Mendizabal as he won by two lengths.

Dascombe was also out of luck when impressive Royal Ascot winner Brown Panther, owned by former England striker Michael Owen, faded into fifth after making the running in the Deutsches Derby at Hamburg.