Yorkshire Oaks a possibility for Queen Of The Pride after emphatic Group 2 success

Queen Of The Pride might have delivered the Gosden stable a tenth Lancashire Oaks success, but nobody would have been more delighted about the victory than Sheikh Fahad Al Thani.

The Qatar Racing supremo has plenty to get excited about with the homebred filly, whose parents were flagbearers for the organisation in their racing careers.

By four-time Group 1-winning Roaring Lion out of St Leger heroine Simple Verse, Queen Of The Pride has an outstanding pedigree and is starting to fulfil her potential after following up last month's win in the Lester Piggott Fillies' Stakes at this track.

Patiently ridden by Oisin Murphy, the four-year-old challenged on the far side and powered away impressively to score by three lengths from favourite Tiffany.

Joint-trainer Thady Gosden said: "She won here last time and was still a little green and learning, but you could see today she's definitely picked up a bit.

"She's a proper Qatar Racing homebred. It's very unusual to own the sire and the mother and they were two champions in their own right, so it's a huge achievement for them."

Connections will be left to consider Group 1 options for Queen Of The Pride, who was cut to 6-1 (from 16-1) for next month's Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks by Paddy Power and Betfair Sportsbook.

"She has run well here over the mile and a half, so it's [the Yorkshire Oaks] possible," said Gosden. "She's a smart filly and we'll see how she comes out of it."

Murphy would normally be riding at Sandown on this day, but was happy to continue the winning partnership.

"I was really pleased with how she picked up and she ran right the way through the line," he said. "We all thought after she won her last race here that something like the Prix de Royallieu would be a good long-term target and I'm sure that's in John and Thady's mind." 

Star performer

The outcome of the 1m6f handicap was affected by three fancied runners slipping on the bend, but Charlie Johnston was drawing positives from the performance of Align The Stars.

The stable has targeted the £100,000 contest for three-year-olds with some of its top talent and hopes are high that Align The Stars can continue his progress following a determined win under Joe Fanning.

"This is a race that we've won a few times in the past, including with Sir Ron Priestley, and Subjectivist actually got beat in it trying to carry top weight," said Johnston.

"I've always hoped this horse would be a Group horse in time and I've not seen anything today that doesn't give me that confidence.

"If he went to Goodwood, he'd have to come back to a mile and a half, and Tony [Farmer, owner] is a big York man, so the Melrose has been on the radar for a long time."

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