Holland considering Royal Ascot aim for Primrose Ridge

Darryll Holland is eyeing a Royal Ascot date after a potential return to Beverley with Primrose Ridge, who got off the mark in style at the East Yorkshire track on Thursday.

Runner-up in a deep Brocklesby Stakes, the flat season’s traditional curtain raiser at Doncaster, the daughter of Aclaim got bogged down on her second run at Redcar, where she again finished runner-up as an odds-on favourite.

Drawn highest of all in stall 14, Rossa Ryan’s mount made no mistake on her third outing, putting 13 rivals to the sword in the five-furlong Racing Again on Monday 2 May Fillies’ Restricted Novice Stakes, and powering to a seven-length success.

Holland said: “She is a good filly, a really nice filly.

“She just got stuck in the ground at Redcar – they had heavy rain the night before, but she won impressively today, especially from that draw.

“She will have an entry at Royal Ascot, but she will probably go for the Listed Marygate Fillies’ Stakes at York and then we will think about Ascot after that, or she might go back (to Beverley) for the Hilary Needler Trophy at the end of May.

“We will have to take it one step at a time, but we have got a nice filly on our hands to be able to make that decision.”

Though well held by the highly-regarded Persian Force at Doncaster on debut, Holland was always confident he had a decent filly on his hands.

He added: “It is no surprise that the form of the Brocklesby has worked out well.

“It was a hot race really, and normally some renewals are not very good, but I think it was a special year this year.

“In the old days, you could rely on Bill Turner to win a Brocklesby, but racing has changed now – the horses are getting speedier and people are buying them like that and breeding them for speed.

“But I’ll take that one, anyway!”