Betfred Dahlia Stakes |
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| Fillies' Group 2, Newmarket 14:20 £165,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 1m 1f, Class 1  |
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1 Jancis 18/1
2
Cathedral 9/2
3
Survie 9/2
10 ran NR: Arisaig, Qilin Queen, Stateira
Distances: 1¾l, 8½l, nk Time: 1m 47.41s (fast by 1.49s)
An 18-1 winner!
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) May 3, 2026
Jancis comes out on top in the Betfred Dahlia Stakes! 🥇#ITVRacing | @LeveySean | @williemccreery1 pic.twitter.com/gzzbhgYe5U
Jancis produced a performance of resilience and late strength to spring a surprise, giving Ireland a notable success in the nine-furlong Group Two.
Trained by Willie McCreery, the five-year-old had shown early promise when winning her first two starts in the summer of 2024, but had since found success elusive in a sequence of solid efforts without reward.
Returning from a break since November, she was sent off at 18/1 under Sean Levey and appeared under pressure some way from home. However, she responded willingly to her rider’s urgings, gradually closing on the leaders as the race developed.
Entering the final furlong, only Cathedral could match her stride, but Jancis asserted with increasing authority, staying on strongly to secure victory by a length and three-quarters.
McCreery said: “I’m delighted for her owner, Arturo Cousino, who is watching on from Chile today. He’ll be very happy.
“She was running good races last year and just getting chinned here and there. She ran a lovely race in Dundalk at the back end of last year and it gave us a lot of confidence.
“The owner has been very confident and very patient with her, she’s a beautiful moving filly and it’s great for him.
“He comes from a Chilean family and the third dam was a champion in Chile, I’m very lucky to have her.
“I was delighted with her. She loved that quick ground today, it really suited her and she just hopped off it.”
Royal Ascot now beckons, with connections keen to test her at the highest level.
He added: “She’s won a Group Two so the only thing to do is to try to get a Group One placing now, we’ll go to Ascot now.
“She’ll probably drop back to the mile at Ascot as she’ll have a penalty on her back.
“Arturo has a farm in Chile and he’ll come over for Royal Ascot, he’s a longstanding owner. Those colours have been racing in his family for over 90 years.
“She actually was in utero, the mare was on a plane in Amsterdam to go to America and then onto Chile but she went mad on the plane so they took her back to Ireland to foal this one.
“Arturo owns a farm and a vineyard in Chile so we get a case of wine when we have a winner, it’s very good stuff!”
Dahlia Stakes (Fillies' Group 2)
£165,000 guaranteed, 1m 1f, 4yo+, Class 1
10 ran
Going: Good to Firm
