Desert Flower won the Fillies' Mile | report and free video replay

Supporters of the Night Of Thunder filly could have been forgiven for breaking into a sweat at halfway with Desert Flower under a ride while market rival January appeared to be on the bridle.

However, the complexion of the race soon changed as Desert Flower responded to William Buick's urgings to lengthen her stride and join issue with January.

Desert Flower hit the front approaching the furlong pole and then, despite drifting a little across the track, left her rival trailing in her wake, running on to score by an impressive five and a half lengths to complete a double on the day for Buick and trainer Charlie Appleby.

The winner's form had already received a boost on the card when Flight, a well beaten second to Desert Flower in a July Course maiden, finished third in the Oh So Sharp Stakes but Desert Flower had already advertised her own credentials when winning her next two outings, including the Group Two May Hill Stakes at Doncaster last month.

Coral cut the winner to 4/1 from 10s for the 1000 Guineas behind 3/1 favourite Lake Victoria.

Appleby said: "It's very rare I do get it right but I did say to William 'she's a filly who will jump and travel but she's still very raw and don't be surprised if she gets lost in The Dip' and I think that's what we saw. He said 'you were right for once' but he said 'but once we hit the rising ground she galloped out and I could hardly pull her up.

"I loved the way she paraded today. I think she challenged herself and everybody else at Doncaster, she was a bit of a handful and William said after 'going down to post I wasn't sure what sort of filly I was going to have throughout the race but once she jumped off, popped her in behind, she switched off and did it all the right way round'.

"Hopefully, she'll be a maturer filly in the spring. She won't take much to get fit, she's a scopey filly but you'd love to see her put a few kilos on over the winter. She hasn't put a kilo on since mid-summer and she's had nice gaps between her races to do so but it's just the make-up of her so far.

"She's a filly that has pleased us and she's just kept pleasing us all the way throughout. She's not an exciting filly in the morning but the way that she does stuff, the way she pulls up at the end of a gallop it's as though she hasn't been for a gallop. She'll go a length up from nice lead horses and there won't be a puff out of her and she'll walk home so that gives you the encouragement."

She pulled up way in the distance

Buick added: "She was very good and I was very happy throughout the race. Happy with how she relaxed and the pace was good and even the whole way. It was a true test.

"She just needed a little bit of help coming down The Dip but that can often be the case with horses running on the Rowley Mile for the first time but you couldn't help but be impressed with how she came out of it up the rising ground, she really motored home and pulled up way, way up in the distance.

"Delighted with her, delighted with everything she's done all year and lovely for her to finish off like that.

"I think she's just learning. I think that experience (at Doncaster), she really brought into today and she was much more the finished article but I still believe there's improvement left in her for next year."

Aidan O’Brien said of his three runners, with Ballet Slippers behind January in third and Dreamy fourth: “I’m delighted and they all ran great races really. They ran as we thought they might and ran nice races.

“They are three to look forward to next year and they are all Classic-type fillies.”

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