Goodwood: Derby-winning handler Charlie Appleby must be hoping that it will be third time lucky for Wild Illusion as he bids to win a maiden Nassau Stakes (Group 1), one of the highlights at the five-day Glorious Goodwood Festival on Thursday, the much-anticipated Ladies Day.

The Godolphin-owned three-year-old finished a game second in his most recent starts, the Epsom Oaks (G1) and Ribblesdale Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot and a drop back in trip to 1,800 metres can bring out the best of this Dubai filly.

Wild Illusion shaped well to finish fourth in the 1,000 Guineas earlier in the season but came up short over subsequent longer distances.

This is the filly’s first outing over the distance but it looks an ideal trip for a horse who has both stamina and speed.

The Nassau was first run back in 1840 and Appleby’s Godolphin stable have won the run once in 1999 with the Saeed Bin Surour-trained Zahrat Dubai.

In recent years the Nassau Stakes has been under the spell of Aidan O’Brien and John Gosden, who have won five of the last six runnings between them.

O’Brien has won the last two renewals with Minding and Winter and once again appears to hold the upper hand with the progressive filly Rhododendron who has won over a variety of distances ranging from 1,400m to 2,000m. She has proven to be versatile having won on both soft and good-to-firm during her career.

Meanwhile, Bin Surour is looking forward to campaigning his stable star, Benbatl, in major British Group 1 contests after his smashing victory in the Group 1 Grosser Dallmayr Preis-Bayerisches Zuchtrennen in Munich, Germany.

Godolphin have accepted an early invitation to run Benbatl in the Group 1 Cox Plate in Melbourne in October, but Bin Surour is not ruling out any plan at this stage.

“I will talk to His Highness Shaikh Mohammad [Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai] about where Benbatl should run.

“We will look at York’s Group 1 Juddmonte International as well as the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes. We will look at all the options,” he pointed out.

“Benbatl won very well. We have always known he is a high class horse and he is proving it on the racecourse. His win in the G1 Dubai Turf at Meydan was excellent and he has reproduced that form in Europe,” the trainer added.

Other highlights on Day 3 at Goodwood are the Group 2 Lillie Langtry stakes for three-year-olds and over and the Group 2 Richmond Stakes for two-year-olds.