Three Oaks winners in scintillating Fillies & Mares clash

Can Was repeat her 2012 Investec Oaks triumph? Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Last year’s QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes winner, Dancing Rain, who has been absent for almost a year, bids for back-to-back wins in race three on the QIPCO British Champions Day card.

She also won last year’s Investec Oaks and now faces the winner of this year’s renewal, Was, as well as the impressive winner of the Darley Irish Oaks, Great Heavens.

Was has been a little disappointing since her Epsom victory and will look to make up for that at Ascot, but Great Heavens, a sister to Nathaniel who faces Frankel in the QIPCO Champion Stakes later on the card, has gone on to finish an excellent sixth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Dancing Rain has not raced all season after needing time to reover from an injury and it is a big ask for her to defeat a top class line-up like this one first time out, but her trainer, William Haggas, knows what it takes to get a horse ready after a long lay-off.

High class opposition comes from the Investec Oaks runner-up Shirocco Star, who was narrowly denied in France last time, Irish raider Sapphire, who has some very smart recent form to her name, and French challengers La Pomme d’Amour and Jehannedarc, who both need to find some improvement but hail from top stables.

Also of interest is Dancing Rain’s stable companion, Vow, who was a close fourth in the Investec Oaks.

It has all the makings of a fascinating contest, paving the way for the two richest races that follow.

To view the full race details and line-up, CLICK HERE.