It’s fair to say that German trainer Peter Schiergen is travelling a long way from home for his first runner at Doncaster on Wednesday. Schiergen is based in Cologne which makes it a 1,045-mile round trip. This is an expensive undertaking which will require significant compensation. He’ll be hoping to get that in the £80,000 Japan Racing Association Sceptre Fillies’ Stakes. The feature race of the day is the Group 3 event and Schiergen’s owner won’t want to come home empty-handed. Check out our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
Novemba (4-1, William Hill) is a German 1000 Guineas winner back in May 2021. That victory came by an impressive margin of seven-and-a-half lengths. She was then far from disgraced when fourth to Alcohol Free in last year’s Coronation Stakes at Ascot. A couple of starts later, the filly finished third in a valuable Group 2 at Longchamp on Arc weekend.
With form like this, you can be forgiven for wondering why she’s not odds-on for this race. Despite some decent efforts, the aforementioned German Guineas win was her last. Whilst her Royal Ascot effort behind Saffron Beach was solid, there were no excuses at the same track when last seen. She finished third in a Group 3 over a mile which certainly wasn’t the deepest race you’ll see in that grade. You would probably like to have seen her return to the winners’ enclosure there.
There aren’t any particularly scary rivals in opposition in this shallow Group 3. Perhaps the drop to 7f can facilitate more finishing speed, especially as the ground is likely to soften. Her being a Group horse in a field full of handicappers will provide some confidence that a return to winning ways could be on the cards. One thing is for sure; connections will be eager to collect some prize money.
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