January Seeks Career-Defining Win Against Top Rivals in the Falmouth Stakes
- Turf Diario
- Jul 10
- 2 min read
The O’Brien filly will take on the tough trio of Cinderella’s Dream, Elmalka, and Running Lion in a high-voltage clash
NEWMARKET, Inglaterra (Special for Turf Diario).- Friday’s action at the Newmarket July Festival will reach its first peak of excitement with the running of the Falmouth Stakes (G1), the prestigious one-mile turf clash that brings together 3-year-old fillies and older mares for the first time this season.
On a card that also features the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes (G2) for juvenile fillies, the Falmouth has drawn an exceptional field of eight.
The powerhouse team of Aidan O’Brien, Ryan Moore, and Coolmore will look for another major triumph with January, a 3-year-old daughter of Kingman searching for her first top-level success. Runner-up at two behind Desert Flower (Night of Thunder) in both the Fillies’ Mile (G1) and the May Hill Stakes (G2), she enters off a fine third-place finish behind Cercene (Australia) in the Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot.
Hugely formidable is the far more seasoned Cinderella’s Dream, representing Godolphin with William Buick aboard for trainer Charlie Appleby. A heroine in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1), Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes (G2), Dahlia Stakes (G2), and Jumeirah 1000 Guineas Stakes (L), she was also runner-up in the most recent Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), finishing ahead of Argentina’s Didia (Orpen).
The Shamardal mare also impressed at Royal Ascot, finishing second to Crimson Advocate (Nyquist) in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes (G1), a rival she will face again here seeking revenge.
No less impressive are the credentials of Elmalka (Kingman), last season’s 1000 Guineas Stakes (G1) winner who has since finished second in the Dahlia Stakes (G2) and fourth against males in France’s Prix d’Ispahan (G1) this year.
The list of standouts continues with Running Lion (Roaring Lion), who captured the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2024 and most recently finished fourth in that same event.
The confirmed lineup is rounded out by Elwateen (Dubawi), Atsila (Phoenix of Spain), and Lady Ilze (Territories), all aiming to spring an upset in what promises to be a high-class renewal of the Falmouth Stakes.
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