Wuheida Third In German Oaks at Dusseldorf

British challenger Wuheida finished an honourable third in the German Oaks at Dusseldorf.

Charlie Appleby's daughter of Dubawi, and a member of Triple G's Dirty Dozen, won each of her two starts as a juvenile, including the Group One Prix Marcel Boussac at Chantilly. She returned from nine-month absence in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket a shade over three weeks ago and ran a fine race to fill the runner-up spot behind Aidan O'Brien's subsequent Prix Rothschild scorer Roly Poly. Appleby had hoped to step his filly up in distance in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood but after being withdrawn on account of the rain-softened ground, she instead journeyed across Europe for the 159th Henkel-Preis der Diana. Stepping up to a mile and three furlongs, Wuheida was a hot favourite in the hands of William Buick, but had to make do with minor honours behind Peter Schiergen's Lacazar. The Andreas Wohler-trained Megera, ridden by champion jockey Jim Crowley, split the pair in second.

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Charlie Appleby will drop Wuheida back down in trip for the Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron Stakes at the Curragh on September 9th. The Newmarket handler will aim the daughter of Dubawi at the mile-and-a-quarter Group One after she failed to see out the trip in the German Oaks over a furlong further at Dusseldorf on Sunday.

He told www.godolphin.com: "What we learned in Germany on Sunday is that she doesn't stay that trip."

He added: "But having said that, the first two home (Lacazar and Megera) are both nice fillies and may be very smart. The next logical step is to drop Wuheida back in distance to one mile in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown on September 9th before taking her to the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, over nine furlongs, at Keeneland in mid-October."