Libertango has York in her sights

Libertango may have lost her unbeaten record with a narrow defeat in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, but connections hope that could create the path to Group Two glory at York next month.

The No Nay Never filly backed up her impressive debut victory at Leicester in May by beating Aidan O’Brien’s odds-on favourite Sun Goddess by a length in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot.

She looked to add the Newmarket contest to her CV but found Simon and Ed Crisford’s Senorita Bonita three-quarters of a length too good on the day.

However, Rob Speers, racing manager to owner Ibrahim Araci, remained optimistic the George Boughey-trained juvenile can secure the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes on her next appearance during the Ebor Festival on August 20.

“She’s come out of the race absolutely fine, we are very happy with her and George is happy with her,” Speers said.

“I think it is fair to say that the race didn’t go her way at all, that’s not how we envisaged it playing out. She had a really good pace to aim at at Ascot and she could sit in behind horses and use her turn of foot.

“But they went no gallop in the Duchess of Cambridge, unfortunately, and she got stuck out on the wing and saw daylight for quite a long time, and maybe used her turn of foot a bit earlier in the race than ideal and left herself to be shot at in the final 100 yards.

“If there is a plus point to that, it means we don’t have to go for the Prix Morny and take on the colts. We won’t have to step up to Group One company, we don’t have a Group Two penalty which means we can go to the Lowther and that’s the race she will be trained for now.

“Realistically the winner of the Queen Mary, Victorious, she will have a Group Two penalty so I don’t expect to see her there. Senorita Bonita will have a Group Two penalty so she will be going to the Morny, so she’s unlikely to meet her at York and Sun Goddess, who she beat in the Albany, picked up a Group Two at the Curragh eight days later so she won’t be there either.

“So the two or three fillies who are rated around Libertango are all Group Two winners now and are unlikely to meet her in the Lowther with a penalty, so we will be looking at taking on fillies that finished behind her.

“I expect that she will go off favourite for the Lowther. Hopefully she will get a stronger pace to run at there and a flat track, hopefully we can put right the wrongs of the Duchess of Cambridge.”

Speers previously hinted the two-year-old could race at seven furlongs, but he has ruled out any step up in distance for the current campaign.

“We’ll be sticking to sprint trips this year and then we will see where we are in the spring, I think that’s a sensible thing to do,” he added.

“If all went well, she would go Lowther, Cheveley Park, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint – they are probably the three likely options.

“When you are a five or six-furlong filly and already a Group winner, unless you are willing to carry a penalty there aren’t actually that many options.”