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Aidan O’Brien’s Merrily sprung a 25/1 surprise when fending off Cathedral to land the Group 3 Godolphin Lifetime Care Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket.
With a rating of 96 and Ryan Moore opting to partner stablemate Ecstatic, the Wayne Lordan ridden daughter of No Nay Never was sent off a relatively unfancied 25/1 chance following a fifth-place finish in the Group 3 Weld Park Stakes at the Curragh last month.
The well-fancied Cathedral, who quickened up smartly to make a winning debut at Lingfield, moved to the front entering the final furlong in the colours of AMO Racing. Ollie Sangster's Flight set off in hot pursuit more towards the far side, but it quickly became apparent that Merrily would be the main threat as she moved upsides Cathedral under Wayne Lordan.
The pair struck the front deep inside the final furlong before going on to prevail by half a length. Flight finished back in third.
"She was very unlucky in Goodwood, she had to kind of jump two or three hurdles up the straight there and Declan (McDonogh) thought she was very unlucky," said O'Brien.
He added: "Wayne rode her the last day and thought it all went wrong then for him too, and he didn't get any cover, and she did too much. That's why she was here.
"She's a fine, big filly and Wayne gave her a lovely ride today. She won very nicely, and I think she is a Guineas filly now, looking at her. It will be interesting as she is a big, rangy filly with lots of class and she handles dig in the ground.
"We can at least train her for a Guineas trial now and see how we go."
Cathedral's owner Kia Joorabchian said of her performance: "That was a big ask on her second start and her first time on turf. We asked her a big question and she has given it an amazing try.
"She is definitely next year's filly, but we had to give today a go because she was so well at home, and we wanted to give her the experience on here because she could be a Guineas filly.
"She has done us proud there and she's picked up with the winner and drawn clear of the third. It was a great run."
