In the William Hill Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket, Kieran Shoemark skillfully guided Friendly Soul to a stylish victory, solidifying his standing with the Gosdens.
The half-sister of numerous high-ranking winners, Kingman's daughter of John and Thady Gosden made a respectable impression on her Kempton debut in December.
Sent forward from the beginning in the hands of Shoemark, she demonstrated her toughness and professionalism on the Rowley Mile on Sunday, fulfilling the promise of that Sunbury effort.
Friendly Soul (10-1) led the majority of the way and had enough left over to hold off 4-6 favourite Kaldana's persistent challenge. In the end, they pulled well ahead of the rest of the field.
Friendly Soul and the strongly favoured Kaldana were separated by a length and a quarter at the line, and a further 12 went back to the third Kitteridge in a performance that raises expectations for an exciting future.
The Betfred Oaks at Epsom would need to be supplemented with Friendly Soul, but joint-trainer John Gosden is considering a run at the French equivalent at Chantilly.
“I think it was a good race, I was impressed with the second when she won here at the Craven meeting so I think it was solid (form),” Gosden said.
“I think she (Friendly Soul) is a lovely filly and I think she’s a mile and a quarter filly. She might be a filly for a visit to Chantilly (Prix de Diane). We’ve had a slow spring, it’s been very wet and cold so I haven’t been in a hurry with the horses. We hope that May is really the time they’ll start to come to themselves.”
Gosden also paid respect to Shoemark, who he acknowledged is currently Clarehaven's first jockey in practice following Frankie Dettori's decision to move to the United States.