Owen Burrows: my leading lights for York's Dante Festival

Owen Burrows is hoping his string can maintain its flying form this week in which two of his leading lights line up at York, live on Racing TV.

Group Two winner Nakheel will run in Thursday’s Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Middleton Fillies Stakes. 

Connections have chosen the extended mile and a quarter option ahead of the four-year-old’s other Dante Festival entry in the Boodles Yorkshire Cup, to be staged 24 hours later.

And unbeaten filly, Glittering Surf, entered at Royal Ascot for the Group 1 Coronation Stakes, will seek to enhance her credentials on Friday in the Sky Bet Fillies Stakes (registered as the Michael Seely Memorial Stakes).

The pair are at the centre of an exciting week of action for Burrows, who currently has an incredible 45 per cent strike-rate for 2025.

Lambourn-based Burrows said: “I’ve never started like this. I think we’re nine from 20 – that’s crazy stats and I know it won’t continue like that.

“Going into this season, I felt we had a decent bunch of horses. I’m thrilled with how they have run – credit to my team, everybody is working hard. 

“This week, I’m looking forward to getting out Nakheel. I’ve got a one-time runner and winner last year – a Wootton Bassett filly (Sea Poetry) – running at Kempton on Thursday. I’ve got my first two-year-old runners this week, which is unheard of for me at this time of year! So that is exciting. It is going well and long may it continue.”  

Lightly-raced Nakheel, who triumphed in the Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster, is kept to her own sex in the £150,000 Group 2 on the Knavesmire.

Burrows said: “She looks a bit sharper this year – we’ll give her a shot in the Middleton. 

“We may have to take the boys on at some stage, but I just didn’t feel I wanted to do that first-time up over near enough a mile and six in the Cup. 

“In an ideal world, I’d love York to have got a drop of rain. She does seem to appreciate a little bit of juice in the ground, but she goes on fast ground.

“Physically, she’s done very well through the winter – I’ve been very pleased with her. We need to get her season started.

“She’s a Group 2 winner, so we’d love to try and make her a Group 1 winner. I like the idea of the Champions Day Fillies and Mares. Normally always plenty of juice in the ground, a mile and a half round there (Ascot) would really suit her.” 

Burrows, who trains a string numbering in the mid-60s, also oversees a talented three-year-old filly in the shape of Glittering Surf.

She built on a Kempton maiden win with victory in a conditions stakes at the same course and is being primed for her first start on turf.

Burrows said: “She’s done nothing wrong. She didn’t learn a lot first time – she went out in front and made all. 

“I was keen for her to learn a bit last time and she certainly did. She does enough at home that you know she’s pretty decent, but I was pleasantly surprised. The speed she showed between three and a half to one and a half surprised me a bit, to be honest.   

“She’s in good form. Hopefully it will be nice safe fast ground – York does a very good job – because she is a big girl, she’s got a bit of knee action.” 

The Dante Festival is York’s first meeting of 2025 and gets underway on Wednesday, with the first race set to take place at 2.10pm.