Midday battles back to retain Nassau crown

Settled into an outside tracking position,

Midday was traveling comfortably just off the steady pace set by Barshiba (Barathea

[Ire]), with the stalking Stacelita well placed in second. Stacelita ranged up

to challenge Barshiba entering the straight, but Midday cruised alongside and

shot clear in a few strides.

As Midday roared to a daylight margin, she

looked well on her way to a commanding win. Just as quickly, she slackened

stride, and when Stacelita collared her, Midday appeared beaten. In fact, she

had plenty in reserve. Accelerating on cue, Midday drew off to a 1 1/4-length

score, tightening up Stacelita once she had established her supremacy. Her final

time was 2:07 1/5 for about 1 1/4 miles on good to firm turf.

According to PA Sport, Queally told the stewards

that both Midday and Stacelita were hanging to their left.

"Although both fillies shifted left late on, I had my stick in my left hand

and did everything in my power to keep her straight," Queally argued. "As well

as that I was almost a length and a half clear at the line and I won

decisively."

The stewards declared Midday the official

winner, but found Queally culpable for careless riding and suspended him for two

days. He will sit out August 14-15.

"They went very slowly and there was no pace," Cecil told PA Sport. "It was

more like a mile race -- she quickened clear and thought she had done enough

before deciding to quicken again. She is getting a bit lazy and prefers to

quicken gradually. She likes a strong pace and thought she had done enough, but

quickened when the second came to her."

Teddy Grimthorpe, Juddmonte's racing manager, confessed that Stacelita's late

thrust was cause for concern.

"Stacelita is very smart, and I was particularly nervous when she came

upsides, but Midday is game," Grimthorpe told PA Sport. "We do have the

Breeders' Cup at the back of our minds."

Cecil likewise mentioned that the Breeders' Cup figures in their plans.

"I have to be careful with her, but so long as the ground is not quick, she

will hopefully run in the Yorkshire Oaks ([Eng-G1] on August 19) next," the

horseman said. "Hopefully she will have a good end-of-year campaign, and the

Breeders' Cup is in the mix."

The November 5 Filly & Mare Turf at Churchill Downs is also on the agenda for

Stacelita.

"Her main objective is the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf," trainer

Jean-Claude Rouget said, "so depending on how things pan out she will either run

two or three more times."

Godolphin's Antara (Platini) checked in another length back in third,

followed by Strawberrydaiquiri (Dansili [GB]), Contredanse (Danehill DAncer),

Barshiba and Rosanara (Sinndar).

Midday improved her record to 13-5-3-3,

£1,195,393. An impressive winner of the 2009 Lingfield Oaks Trial, she just

missed to Sariska in the Oaks (Eng-G1) at Epsom and finished a well-beaten third

to the same rival in the Irish Oaks (Ire-G1) on heavy ground. Midday broke

through with her first top-level coup in last summer's Nassau, and prepped for

the Breeders' Cup with a creditable third in the Prix de l'Opera (Fr-G1).

Bred in Great Britain, Midday is out of the English stakes-placed Midsummer (Kingmambo),

who is herself a half-sister to eight stakes performers -- chief among them Oaks

heroine and English highweight Reams of Verse (Nureyev), as well as multiple

Group 1 victor and Irish highweight Elmaamul (Diesis [GB]).

This is also the family of Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) hero and multiple

highweight Zafonic (Gone West) and Group 3 winner Zamindar (Gone West), the sire

of unbeaten champion Zarkava.