Easton can fly higher next year
Dods reveals he has always had one on next year with his promising sprinter and is happy to put a line through her last run in the Nunthorpe when things didn't go to plan
MICHAEL DODS has put a line through Easton Angel's Nunthorpe run and feels she will not be seen at her best until next season.
Runner-up in the Queen Mary last year, she landed two Listed prizes earlier in the season and was slightly unlucky when beaten only half a length in the King George at Goodwood.
Ridden by Frankie Dettori for the first time at York, she was trapped wide with no cover and never got involved behind stablemate Mecca's Angel - but Dods feels he has a ready-made replacement for when his stable star retires at the end of the season.
"She was on the wrong part of the track, raced wide and had no cover. I've just put a line through it," said Dods.
"What you must remember about her is that's she's only three and she's had a tough season.
"She's achieved a lot more already at the same stage of her career than Mecca's Angel had. Fillies can only do so much.
"She was unlucky at Goodwood and that could have been the one that got away, but at the same time that was an extra race we slipped in and she didn't have that long to recover for York.
"The Flying Five at the Curragh is an option for her, but it all needs discussing with Al Shaqab and Ritchie (Fiddes) as it might come too quick.
"There's a Group Three at Newbury on Ayr Gold Cup day (September 17) which Mecca's Angel won a couple of years ago and she's also in the Abbaye.
"It's tough for three-year-old fillies to keep taking on the older colts, but I'm sure next year she'll be up to it.
"All season I've sort of had one eye on next year with her."