Angel to get second shot at classical glory in France or Ireland

Fallen Angel, who did not live up to the expectations in the Qipco 1000 Guineas, will probably get another chance at Classic glory in Ireland or France.

The daughter of Too Darn Hot, who has won three of her four juvenile starts, including a Group One in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, was tipped to win Sunday's Classic at Newmarket, giving trainer Karl Burke his first home victory in the event.

Although Fallen Angel was defeated by Elmalka, the unexpected winner, by less than five lengths, she finished eighth out of sixteen runners after travelling well for a considerable distance over the Rowley Mile.

Burke said: “Obviously we were disappointed, but I don’t think there was a lot more we could have done in her prep. She looked fantastic in the paddock beforehand and she was fit – she didn’t have much of a blow on her afterwards. The immediate reaction is she probably wants a little bit further now and she switched leads a few times coming down the dip. Danny (Tudhope) thought with the ground drying out that track wasn’t her track, but they were all excuses and the bottom line is we didn’t run fast enough on the day.”

The handler of Spigot Lodge is eager to wait for the dust to settle before deciding on the next course of action, but he is considering travelling to the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh or travelling across the Channel for the Prix De Diane, which he won six years ago with the star filly Laurens.

“Where we go, the immediate reaction was that if the ground is right we could go back to the Curragh, or, and I haven’t discussed it with Steve (Parkin, owner) yet, we could possibly go for the Prix de Diane instead,” he added. “She’ll have an easy-ish week this week, we’ll pick her up next week and make some serious decisions then really.”

After winning his first two starts at Southwell on the all-weather track,  Burke saddled a potential dark horse in Night Raider in the Qipco 2000 Guineas the previous afternoon.

Despite a significant step up in class on his turf debut, optimism was high after a pleasing racecourse gallop at Newmarket's Craven meeting. However, he trailed home 10th of 11th runners, prompting Burke to think about cutting back on distance on his next start.