Summer Stakes: Take flight with this course-winning swallow at 16/1

Celandine.

This (not very common) girl's name is also the name of a family of flowers, but originally harks back to antiquity. Both the Greek "chelidon" and the Latin "chelidonus" refer to the bird now known in English as a swallow. Indeed, the link between the two lies in the original belief that the celandine flower would only bloom when swallows returned from migration.

Appealing etymology.

Equally appealing in the "here and now" is a very talented filly of Ed Walker's called – how did you guess? – Celandine. She was one of the more exciting two-year-old British fillies in action last season, stringing together a number of fine performances that included:

• a listed win over six furlongs at Newmarket on good to firm ground in late June (ahead of the classy Arabian Dusk, among others);

• a close third (beaten less than a length) over the same distance on rather softer ground in the G2 Robert Papin at Chantilly in mid-July;

• a fourth-placed finish (15 runners) on fast ground when dropped to five furlongs in the G3 Molecomb Stakes (open to colts and fillies) at Glorious Goodwood two weeks later;

• a win when returned to six furlongs on fast ground in the G2 Lowther Stakes at York in August.

On her final start, she then finished 5th of 7 behind Lake Victoria in the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in late September, on the softest ground she had yet encountered.

In short, this daughter of Kingman has the clear profile of a very good fast-ground filly. She is rather off the flat racing radar at the moment because of length of time that has passed since we last saw her.

But not for long.

She returns to the racetrack at York this Friday for the Summer Stakes at York. This will be the same course and distance (and ground) over which she won the G2 Lowther last year. It's quite striking that the runner-up in that race was Time For Sandals, who won the G1 Commonwealth Cup just a few weeks ago. Third home was Leovanni, last year's winner of the G2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot. The remainder (including a number other high-class fillies) were well strung out.

If the vibes around Celandine were weak, i.e. noises from the stable were suggesting that she would very much need the run, the 16/1 currently available from Paddy Power and Skybet would be understandable, if still a little on the generous side. But the opposite appears to be the case: Celandine is working so well that serious contemplation was given to supplementing her for this weekend's July Cup at Newmarket. In the end, connections chose not to pull that trigger and incur the corresponding supplementary fee (she wasn't entered), but to direct her to York on Friday for the Summer Stakes instead.

The AntePoster is bewildered that this Group 2 winner over course, track and ground can still be quoted at 16/1 for this race. We'd be staggered if she started anywhere near that price.

Final declarations are due by tomorrow morning (Wednesday 9 July) at 10 a.m. The stable has confirmed to The AntePoster that Celandine is an intended runner, and as a number of other 5-day entrants are unlikely to be confirmed, this is recommendation with a limited shelf life.

Recommendation: Back Celandine each-way at 16/1 with Paddy Power or Skybet to win the Summer Stakes at York on Friday 11 July.