Tattersalls Sceptre Cheveley Park Stakes |
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Group 1, Newmarket 14:25 £275,000 guaranteed, 2yo only, 6f, Class 1 ![]() |
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1 True Love 2/1F
2
Havana Anna 13/2
3
Royal Fixation 7/2
9 ran Distances: ¾l, 1l, ½l
Time: 1m 11.00s (slow by 0.60s)
❤️ True Love lands the G1 @CPStudOfficial Stakes pic.twitter.com/pJOL3e2ESP
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) September 27, 2025
True Love showed her resolve and her class to hand Aidan O’Brien a sixth success in the race, the Royal Ascot heroine regaining her Group One lustre after a rare stumble at the Curragh.
Beaten at long odds-on in the Phoenix Stakes, she arrived with a point to prove, and under Wayne Lordan she delivered, though not without a proper duel in the final furlong. Donnacha O’Brien’s Havana Anna loomed up, throwing down a challenge to his father’s filly, the pair quickening clear of their rivals after Fitzella had made the early running. But it was True Love, the 2-1 favourite, who found the extra gear where it mattered, edging ahead to score by three-quarters of a length.
Behind, the Lowther winner Royal Fixation stuck on for third, with York runner-up America Queen close up in fourth.
Paddy Power introduced the winner at 12-1 for next year’s 1000 Guineas, though O’Brien himself was not entirely convinced the mile of the Rowley Mile Classic would play to her strengths.
He said: “We’re delighted with her, Wayne gave her a lovely ride and she’s a fine, big, powerful filly who travels well.
“She has a great constitution, she’s strong and she has a great mind. You never know until you get through the winter and through the spring and see what they’re going to do. She’s a very big filly, but she’s definitely not short of speed.
“I wouldn’t be sure (about her getting a mile), she is quick and she’s by No Nay Never, who is a big influence for speed.
“She could go to America (Breeders’ Cup), it depends what the lads want to do.”
For Ed Walker, trainer of Royal Fixation, there was pride mixed with a touch of frustration, as his filly briefly looked like she might topple the lot.
“It was a massive run and I’m really proud of her, but I think I’m disappointed really because while my expectations are never high going into a Group One, my expectations went rapidly up between the four and the three (furlong markers),” said the Newmarket handler.
“I just thought when Will (Buick) started poking her into the race she grabbed hold of the bit and to be honest at that stage I thought she was going to win, but it looked like she just fell down the hill.
“I’ve only watched it once, but it looked like she didn’t know where her legs were going and then when she’s hit the rising ground she’s ran on again.
“I don’t really know what we do now. The Breeders’ Cup wasn’t an option coming here today, we thought this would be it for the season, but it might be an option now. It’s obviously over a mile around a bend. Will wasn’t confident she’d get much further than six furlongs at York but now he’s very confident she will.
“If not, I’d imagine we’ll put her away and train her for a Guineas or maybe a French Guineas next year. We’ll have a beer and think about it.”
So on a day when family rivalries played out on the Rowley Mile, it was father who just held sway over son, with True Love back in her rightful place as a Group One winner – and her future path, whether to Guineas or Breeders’ Cup, still to be charted.
Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes (Fillies' Group 1)
£275,000 guaranteed, 2yo only, 6f, Class 1
9 ran
Going: Good to Firm
POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (8) True Love 2 9-2 A P O'Brien Wayne Lordan 2/1F
2 (5) ¾ Havana Anna 2 9-2 Donnacha O'Brien Gavin Ryan 13/2
3 (9) 1 Royal Fixation 2 9-2 Ed Walker William Buick 7/2
4 (4) ½ America Queen 2 9-2 Richard Hughes Billy Loughnane 13/2
5 (7) 2¼ Fitzella 3 2 9-2 Hugo Palmer Oisin Murphy 11/1
6 (6) 1 Golden Palace 2 9-2 Richard Fahey David Egan 100/1
7 (3) 2¼ Anthelia 2 9-2 Rod Millman Lewis Edmunds 28/1
8 (1) 4½ Beautify 2 9-2 A P O'Brien Tom Marquand 5/1
9 (2) 17 Orion's Belt 2 9-2 Richard Hannon Sean Levey 33/1