The St James’s Palace at Royal Ascot 1994. Grand Lodge under a 34-year-old Mick Kinane gave William Jarvis a second Group 1 in the space of nine months. 27 years on and Jarvis might just have the horse to end what he labels a “barren spell”.
A high class Lady
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“I’ve been training a long time and we’ve been very lucky to have had some very decent horses through our hands, but it’s been a bit of a barren spell probably since Gravitation won the Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood in 2008. To have a filly as high class as Lady Bowthorpe is great for all of us,” said Jarvis.
Lady Bowthorpe has run a series of brilliant races in defeat since winning the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket in May and Jarvis believes she’s a different horse this season.
“She’s grown up as a five-year-old mare and she’s much more amenable now. As a three and four-year-old, we thought she was very much a soft ground filly but her run in both the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket and more recently in the Falmouth Stakes were on good-to-firm ground and I think she’s pretty adaptable.”
To have a filly as high class as Lady Bowthorpe is great for all of us
The daughter of Nathaniel was flying late on having met trouble in running in the Falmouth Stakes and she has come out of that run in flying form.
“She was very tired when she came out of the Lockinge Stakes, but we had a very good preparation between Ascot and Newmarket, and she’s really been pleasing me since the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes.”
“In the Falmouth Stakes, I didn’t think she got the rub of the green, but Snow Lantern is a very good filly. I felt at the time that we were the best horse in the race.”
The highest rated miler in the world, Palace Pier, was on Tuesday ruled out of the Qatar Sussex Stakes which has given Jarvis and Lady Bowthorpe’s owner Emma Banks reasons to ponder which Group 1 contest they should head to at Goodwood next week.
“Our initial thoughts after the Falmouth were to head to the Qatar Nassau Stakes, to keep her against her own sex and step her up to 10 furlongs. I’m very confident that she’ll stay the extra two furlongs. With Palace Pier ruled out, we’ll certainly have a look at the opposition in the Qatar Sussex Stakes but I’m certainly leaning towards the Nassau.”