Karl Burke has supplemented Miss Yechance for Sunday’s Prix de l’Abbaye at ParisLongchamp, giving the rapidly improving filly her first crack at Group 1 company just over a fortnight after her Group 3 win at Newbury.
The three-year-old was not among the original entries for the five-furlong championship sprint on the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe card, but her progress since joining Burke’s Middleham yard in May has persuaded connections to pay to get her in.
Miss Yechance finished seventh in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap at Royal Ascot on her first start for the yard and was third at Goodwood in July. She then won a five-furlong handicap off a mark of 90 at York’s Ebor meeting in August, before stepping up to land the Group 3 Dubai International Airport World Trophy at Newbury on September 19, beating Shagraan by a neck at 12/1.
That was also a first Group winner for apprentice Jack Nicholls. Burke was quick to credit the partnership afterwards, saying: “She won in a faster time than the Nunthorpe winner at York, so we knew she’s very quick, and Jack gets a tune out of her.”
He added: “She’s done nothing but improve, physically, since she arrived in May. She tips away at home – she’s hard as nails and I’m delighted.”
Owned by the Al Leith Racing Club, the Cotai Glory filly has already had a busy year. She spent the winter in Dubai, winning a handicap at Meydan in January and finishing second on dirt there in March, before she was sent to Burke.
The Abbaye is still a big step up. She was rated 97 going into Newbury, and her two wins this season have come on good and good to firm ground. On the other hand, she’s won twice in a month, her York time stands up well against the Nunthorpe, and Burke doesn’t strike me as a trainer who pays supplementary fees just for a day out in Paris.
Burke has already won a Royal Ascot sprint this season with Venetian Sun in the Commonwealth Cup, and Miss Yechance now gives him another live sprinter for the end of the season.
The Prix de l’Abbaye is one of the Group 1 races supporting the Arc at ParisLongchamp on Sunday 4 October. For the rest of the week’s big races, see our key races this week guide.