Nassau Stakes Preview

Midday and Snow Fairy will go head to head in the Markel Insurance Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood after Misty For Me was declared a non-runner.

A fascinating three-way contest was anticipated in the 10-furlong heat with Aidan O'Brien's Irish raider Misty For Me favourite to come out on top after defeating Midday in the Pretty Polly Stakes on softer going last time.

However, the three-year-old has been taken out of the race on account of the ground, leaving Midday and Snow Fairy vying for favouritism.


Now a five-year-old, Midday holds sway over the Ed Dunlop-trained Snow Fairy so far with Sir Henry Cecil's charge finishing three lengths to the good when the pair clashed in last year's Yorkshire Oaks.

Cecil believes Midday is a better horse this year as she attempts to win the race for a third successive season, though she arrives on the back of a rare lacklustre run, when she had no answer to Misty For Me in the Pretty Polly.

Cecil would have had no qualms about running her in the King George against the colts last weekend but with Workforce already representing owner Khalid Abdullah, he decided to wait until this weekend.


"The Nassau this year is going to be a very tough race, but I think she would actually have run well in the King George on Saturday if she'd run," said Cecil.

"The pace would have suited her as she has got a turn of foot and I think there would have been a good chance at her best that she'd have been in the mix. We couldn't run her against the colt (Workforce). It would have been stupid to run the two of them.


"I don't know what happened in Ireland, something went wrong. She was in very good order, but the filly of Aidan O'Brien's just scooted away. I hope it was a one-off as she's working well and I think she's better this year than last year."

Abdullah's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe added: "Midday ran a super race at Epsom (in the Coronation Cup). I don't know about the Curragh, she was certainly beaten by a very decent filly that day, but we were slightly scratching our heads as we expected her to run better."