Endless Time rewards Appleby’s patience
Charlie Appleby's four-year-old held off late challengers and could be heading back to the Knavesmire for the Yorkshire Oaks
ENDLESS TIME showed her class as she made a successful seasonal reappearance in the bet365 Lancashire Oaks at Haydock.
The Yorkshire Oaks on the Knavesmire next month could be on the cards for Godolphin's four-year-old filly, trained by Charlie Appleby, after she overcame a 258-day absence to take this Group Two contest.
Jockey James Doyle said: "She'd been off a long time and that had to be a worry. At the three-furlong marker the German horse (Nightflower) held me in and then I got held on the inside but I wasn't that worried as she has a good turn of pace.
"She doesn't do a whole lot when she gets to the front but it worked out perfectly."
Appleby's assistant James Ferguson said: "That was fantastic. She's won first time out before and we've taken our time and done a lot of work with her.
"She's always been a big filly and has grown up mentally. We knew she'd enjoy the soft ground.
"The only question coming into the race was if she was good enough. She's proved today she's good enough and she's been very relaxed about the whole thing.
"If she's all good at home we'll probably head for something like the Yorkshire Oaks.
"We were very pleased with her and she'll definitely come on for it."
Appleby was at Sandown, where he said: "She was the same weight as when she won the Listed race at Naas well and we've trained her for a late summer/autumn campaign.
"She loves juice in the ground and the more rain they were getting up there the happier I was going to be.
"We might be being a bit bold, but we are going to work backwards from the Fillies' And Mares' at Ascot, that was always the plan. We hoped we'd win today, look at the Yorkshire Oaks and go on from there.
"The final target is the Fillies' And Mares'."