News American filly Dothraki Queen game for Guineas throne

American filly Dothraki Queen game for Guineas throne

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Kenny McPeek is hoping Dothraki Queen can break new ground by becoming the first American horse to line up in the Qipco 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 1.

The Kentucky handler has set an ambitious target for the daughter of Pure Prize, who counts former top Hong Kong runner Electric Unicorn and Grade Two turf winner Ambitious Cat among her relatives.

Dothraki Queen has a turf success to her name, as well as a Grade Two dirt victory, and showed up well when finishing third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland last October.

She subsequently disappointed at Churchill Downs but McPeek is eager to put a line through that run and focus on a Classic attempt.

He said: "To win the 1000 Guineas would be beyond special and Dothraki Queen has already shown enough class to justify giving it a shot.

"She's won a Grade Two race and been runner-up in a Grade One, so a win at the top level has to be her goal and going for the Guineas followed by the Epsom Oaks looks like a good option.

"She certainly has the talent to be competitive over a mile - you don't come to a gunfight with a water pistol.

"People don't know that I have been taking horses to England since long before Wesley Ward began to do so and almost every one of my runners there has pleased me."

"I think that English racing is very special, I have always been attracted to the history of the sport - and it is a life goal of mine to win an English Classic.

"Dothraki Queen has done most of her racing on dirt but she won her maiden by seven lengths on grass and the way that she moves, together with the number of top turf horses on the dam's side of her pedigree, mean that I believe that her career is best served as a grass horse.

"She shouldn't have any trouble handling the conditions at the Rowley Mile as I have my own grass gallops on my farm in Kentucky that are a bit like Warren Hill in Newmarket.

"In hindsight, I wish that I had not run her after the Breeders' Cup - she was over the top and ran flat - but she has rested and regrouped since then and is bigger and stronger now.

"She has had three workouts at Oaklawn Park and is about a month off her first run of the season. After that we will make a final decision about shipping her over."

The 1000 Guineas has attracted an initial entry of 63 fillies, including European Champion Juvenile Filly Minding.

Nathra, Hawksmoor, Coolmore and Beautiful Morning chased her home in the Dubai Fillies' Mile over the Guineas course and distance in October and they all feature amongst the possibles.

Cheveley Park Stakes winner Lumiere is also entered along with her three closest pursuers back in September - Illuminate, Besharah and Alice Springs.

Twenty-nine of the entries hail from outside Britain, including Minding and the Prix Marcel Boussac winner Ballydoyle from the Aidan O'Brien yard.

Come Alive, Gherdaiya and Pleasemetoo are potential runners for Andre Fabre, who completed his full set of British Classics when saddling Miss France to win this race in 2014.