Can Midday beat the boys?

Midday lands the totesport.com Middleton Stakes at York on her 2011 seasonal debut.  Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

One of the stars of Henry Cecil’s powerful Newmarket stable, the five-year-old mare, Midday, will have the chance to prove herself against her male counterparts on Friday when she lines up for the first race in the Middle Distance category of the QIPCO British Champions Series, the Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom.

All the 11 Group races that she has contested to date – six of which she has won, with three seconds and two thirds in the others – have been for fillies & mares only.

On Friday she will face a formidable male opponent in St Nicholas Abbey, the much vaunted four year-old colt trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien.

The top two-year-old of 2009, St Nicholas Abbey was red hot favourite for last year’s 2000 Guineas, but he could only finish sixth and was not seen on a racecourse again until this spring.

A disappointing comeback on soft ground in Ireland in April was followed by a runaway success at Chester in May, leading many to the conclusion that he may now start living up to the hype which surrounded him after his brilliant two-year-old season.

Midday is a top class performer herself, however, and looked better than ever on her seasonal debut at York last month when she recorded a comfortable victory. She will provide St Nicholas Abbey with a very tough test and might well be up to beating him.

To view the Investec Coronation Cup race page and the best odds on the race, courtesy of Oddschecker, click here.