Gifted Girl Possible for Beverly D

Alan Spence’s 2013 Grade I Beverly D. runner-up Gifted Girl is possible for an attempt to do one better in 2014.  Last year, the Paul Cole-trained daughter of Azamour ran a credible second behind runaway winner Dank, finishing clear of the photo-finish trio of Ausus, Marketing Mix and La Tia. 

This season has had its highs and lows for the leggy bay mare, as she has turned in both a good and poor effort in two starts.  Her better effort – in the Group III Dahlia Stakes on May 4 – resulted in a third, finishing directly behind Intergral who took Wednesday afternoon’s Group II Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot – the same stakes used by Dank en route to her blockbuster performance in 2013.

James Wigan’s Dank also competed on Wednesday’s card, but this time against the best middle distance turf horses in the world in the Group I Prince of Wales’s Stakes.  Finishing fifth while running an uncharacteristically flat race, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained daughter of Dansili might have been slightly beyond her distance limitations over Ascot’s testing 10 furlongs, which culminates with an uphill finish.