Teppal one of ten Group 1 winners among superb Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes entry

A star-studded entry of 41 fillies and mares has been received for the Group 1 Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse on Saturday, 6th October.

No less than ten different individual Group 1 winners are engaged in this £250,000 contest, which is run over a straight mile and is the penultimate leg in the Mile category of the 2018 QIPCO British Champions Series.

They are led by Alpha Centauri, winner of a trio of top level contests – the Irish 1000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes and Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes – on her last three starts and who is set to contest another, the Prix Jacques Le Marois, at Deauville on Sunday.

Her potential rivals include her nearest pursuers from the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes – Altyn Orda and Clemmie – plus five more Classic winners: the QIPCO 1000 Guineas heroine, Billesdon Brook; Winter Lightning, victorious in the UAE 1000 Guineas; Nyaleti (German 1000 Guineas); the Prix de Diane [French Oaks] scorer, Laurens; and Teppal, winner of the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches [French 1000 Guineas].

Trained in Newmarket by David Simcock, Teppal is one of the least experienced entrants. Her Pouliches triumph came on just the third start of her career and she has run only once since then, when meeting trouble in running before finishing ninth in the Coronation Stakes.

This race has long been a happy hunting ground for overseas challengers – the winner’s trophy has been exported after eight of its last ten renewals – and the foreign representation is again strong.

Alongside Jessica Harrington’s Alpha Centauri, the nine other Irish entries include a quintet of Aidan O’Brien-trained Group 1 winners in Hydrangea, Rhododendron, Athena, Happily and the aforementioned Clemmie.

A five strong French contingent is led by With You and Rosa Imperial, first and third in the Group 1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville nine days ago, and the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham scorer, Mission Impassible.

David Simcock, trainer of Teppal, said:

“Teppal will have a number of entries in the autumn but the Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes definitely comes into the equation for her.”

“She came back from Royal Ascot with very bad blood and she was quite sick for quite a while. She looked very light and for the next two weeks she was visibly under the weather, so we’ve lost between a month and six weeks training with her.”

“She is only cantering but she seems in good order now and I am very happy with her.”

“I am pleased that something came to light after Ascot as, if she had run a good second to Alpha Centauri that would have been acceptable, but to run as badly as she did was seriously disappointing.”

“She is a big, raw filly with plenty of speed and, with only four races under her belt, I would like to think that she is still open to improvement.”

41 Entries:

Aljazzi (GB), Crystal River (GB), Hydrangea (IRE), Indian Blessing (GB), La Figlia (IRE), Laugh Aloud (GB), Rhododendron (IRE), Rosa Imperial (IRE), Tribute Act (GB), Victory Wave (USA), Wilamina (IRE), Agrotera (IRE), Alpha Centauri (IRE), Altyn Orda (IRE), Athena (IRE), Awesometank (GB), Beshaayir (GB), Billesdon Brook (GB), Clemmie (IRE), Dan’s Dream (GB), Desert Diamond (GB), Dream Ascot (GB), Frankel Light (IRE), Hadith (IRE), Happily (IRE), Harvestfortheworld (IRE), Homerique (USA), I Can Fly (GB), Laurens (FR), Magical (IRE), Mission Impassible (IRE), Narella (IRE), Nkosikazi (GB), Nyaleti (IRE), Pretty Baby (IRE), Teppal (FR), Threading (IRE), Ummalnar (GB), Veracious (GB), Winter Lightning (IRE), With You (GB) (41).