Wolverhampton stages its flagship fixture this Saturday, March 12, with a seven-race programme headlined by the £57,500 Listed MansionBet Lady Wulfruna Stakes (2.40pm).
The seven-furlong contest is a Fast-Track Qualifier for the £150,000 All-Weather Mile Championships, with Second Thought having won both races in 2018.
Course specialist Misty Grey is out to continue his unbeaten record at Wolverhampton. Tom Dascombe’s charge is unbeaten in four handicap appearances at the track, the latest of which came in December.
The 10 contenders also feature Happy Power, who captured the G2 Challenge Stakes at Newmarket in 2020 for Andrew Balding and was beaten half a length into third in the G2 Lennox Stakes at Goodwood last summer.
Further Pattern form is represented by G2 City Of York Stakes runner-up Highfield Princess. The John Quinn-trained Royal Ascot winner bids to bounce back from an odds-on reversal in a Fillies’ & Mares’ Fast-Track Qualifier at Chelmsford City last month.
Internationalangel is chasing her sixth straight win. Having scored on her final start for Robert Stephens at Yarmouth, the five-year-old has been a revelation in handicaps for Jane Chapple-Hyam with four victories at Chelmsford City and a runaway success at Newcastle last time out.
Chapple-Hyam said: “We have been very pleased with Internationalangel since Newcastle and we thought that, given she’s a mare, it was worth having a go at this to see if we can get some black type.
“She went all the way up to Newcastle last time and did it so easily under top-weight – and the form looks OK with the second winning since.
“Her main target is the Fillies’ & Mares’ final but she has had a three-week break since her last run and it is another month until Finals Day, so it was a no-brainer to keep her ticking over.
“She is a good worker and gallops well but you would not know that she is in the string. She has a good character and, with a change of scenery, has gone from strength to strength.”
Another unknown quantity is French raider Amilcar from the stable of Alduino & Giuseppe Botti. Amilcar has won five of his 10 starts and has a 3lb penalty to overcome following a Listed success at Deauville in December.
Volatile Analyst steps up in class for Keith Dalgleish after defying top-weight in a seven-furlong handicap at the track in January, while last year’s Victoria Cup winner River Nymph makes his first appearance since October for Clive Cox.
A deep line-up also includes Mick Appleby’s Ayr Harbour, who was a close third behind My Oberon in a Fast-Track Qualifier at Southwell in February. Lightly race five-year-old Tinker Toy and Fauvette, who upset Highfield Princess at Chelmsford City, complete the runners for Roger Varian and Rae Guest.
Earlier on the card, La Tihaty bids for a fifth straight victory on the All-Weather in the £50,000 MansionBet Lincoln Trial Handicap (2.05pm). The Roger Varian-trained four-year-old defeated Misty Grey in a mile handicap at Kempton Park in February.
A 12-strong field also includes last-time-out winners Hafeet Alain and Notre Belle Bete for Ed Walker and Andrew Balding, plus the in-form Mick Appleby duo of Baldomero and United Front.
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