English/Ire
Survie set for Saudi prep at Lingfield
High-class filly Survie will face just two rivals when she makes her stable debut for trainer George Boughey in the Midnite Winter Derby Trial Conditions Stakes at Lingfield on Saturday.
Purchased by 1,900,000gns by Coolmore in December, Survie has plenty to spare on official ratings over both Teumessias Fox and Military Academy and as a result, she looks to be a warm order ahead of her first outing for new connections.
"I'm not going to say it's a non-event but she's quite a long way clear on ratings," said Boughey on Sky Sports Racing. "It has been the plan to get her away before she goes to Saudi and this looks like the perfect spot for her.
"She was going to go for a gallop at either Chelmsford or Lingfield this weekend but looking at the race, it should hopefully just be that.
The daughter of Churchill showed some top-level form when trained in France by Nicolas Clement and Flo Hermans last season, most notably finishing behind dual Oaks heroine Whirl in the Pretty Polly at the Curragh before a highly creditable second place finish in the Prix Jean Romanet at Chantilly.
The 2024 Prix de Diane runner-up failed to land a blow when upped to a mile and six in the Prix de Royallieu on her final start, but Boughey believes she has all the class to make an impact for new connections on the international scene, with the valuable extended mile and a quarter Group 1 Neom Turf Cup on her immediate agenda in just over two weeks' time.
Boughey added: "She had some top form last season. It probably didn't finish on the best note at the backend on soft ground, but I think her runs in the Romanet and in Ireland were two good runs.
"Fast ground, in my opinion, is what she wants and we're pretty happy with how she's trained.
"We're pretty comfortable with her coming back to ten furlongs, her work and her data suggest she has plenty of toe for that. It's all systems go and a stepping-stone to a much bigger pot out in Saudi."
Looking beyond her immediate Saudi Cup target, Survie could be set for a return to both Ireland and France for the Pretty Polly and Romanet with Boughey keen to nominate them as logical targets further down the line.
He said: "A couple of races that standout are probably the Romanet back in France for the older fillies and the Pretty Polly in Ireland, in my opinion, that was her best run and that gave us the confidence to get her travelling straight away because it was the only time she left France.
"She could come back (to England) for something like the Dahlia, but she's got all the right entries out in Dubai if Saudi in any way to plan."
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