Usherette Shines In Dahlia Stakes

Usherette was the impressive winner of a strong renewal of the G2 Charm Spirit At Tweenhills In 2017 Dahlia Stakes over nine furlongs at Newmarket, UK, on Sunday, May 1.

The Andre Fabre-trained four-year-old filly, now successful on five of her six starts, raced a bit keenly initially as G1 winner Arabian Queen took the field of nine along at a fast pace.

The daughter of Shamardal was held up in fifth by Mickael Barzalona on the stands' rail and was asked for her effort with two furlongs remaining.

Usherette came with a powerful run to challenge the leader at the distance and led inside the final furlong to triumph by a length from Arabian Queen, with another G1 scorer Amazing Maria a further four and a half lengths back in third.

The Godolphin filly's time came to 1m 51.06s on ground described as good.

Andre Fabre commented: "I brought Usherette here as we don't have any suitable races restricted to the females in France. She's good - a top-class filly.

"There were no penalties so it was a good race. We'll come back for the Falmouth (G1, 1m, Newmarket, July 8) or for the Group Two (1m, Duke of Cambridge Stakes, June 15) at Royal Ascot. We will discuss the situation with the owner.

"She can be described as a prospect, but I was confident as she had worked well beforehand. She has the best weapon of a racehorse, which is acceleration.

"Usherette has more acceleration than Esoterique (the 2014 Dahlia Stakes winner) and the class is the same.

"She is among the best I have trained. This was only her sixth race and she will improve."

Michael Barzalona said: "It was a big step up in class for Usherette in a strong race, but she is a lovely filly with a wonderful turn of foot and she won very easily.

"The strong pace helped a lot, though she still travelled a little keenly. I would have liked to have dropped her out more, but I had no choice.

"I had to be patient but the filly did the rest of the job."