See The Fire stamps class on Nottinghamshire Oaks

See The Fire took advantage of a drop in grade to get back to winning ways in the British Stallion Studs EBF Nottinghamshire Oaks.

A 12-length winner of the Group Two Middleton Stakes at York last season, the daughter of Sea The Stars then made five successive appearances in Group One company and was only beaten a short neck in the Prix de l’Opera by Barnavara.

Having been off the track since finishing down the field at the Breeders’ Cup in November, the Andrew Balding-trained mare was a 1-3 favourite to make the most of having her sights lowered to Listed level at Nottingham and looked set to win comfortably after pulling clear of Rob Hornby with two furlongs still to run.

Odds-on backers were made to sweat late on as Irish challenger It’s A Heartbeat finished with a flourish, but See The Fire held on by a neck.

“It was always going to be a bit of a muddling race and she’s a horse who likes to have a little bit of cover,” Hornby told Racing TV.

“You could see that she moved through the race with ease. She’s very game, so she needs a little bit of company.

“I don’t feel that she got tired, we just saw plenty at the front, which was my own fault really, but it’s just the way the race panned out.

“The second horse was a little bit away from her, she couldn’t really feel her coming until we’d gone over the line and she galloped out strongly.”

See The Fire can expect to face tougher tests for the rest of the campaign, with the Middleton Stakes, the Coronation Cup and the Pretty Polly Stakes in Ireland among her big-race entries.

Hornby added: “It’s nice to get this year under way on the right note. She’s going to improve, but obviously showed a high level of ability and it’s all there to see and today was nice to tick the box.

“It was the first run of the year, she’s entitled to just sharpen up fitness wise and the winning margin hasn’t shown what she’s capable of. She’s a hugely exciting filly and one to look forward to for the rest of the year.”