the filly up before challenging in the final quarter mile. Cape Verdi ran on strongly to catch Embassy in the final strides and win by a short head. The result was not decisive; Embassy had been carrying three pounds more than Cape Verdi, and appeared to have been given an easy race by Pat Eddery. Cape Verdi was however, made 11/8 favourite when the two fillies met again in the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in October. The race was her last for Chapple-Hyam's stable as she had been bought by Maktoum Al Maktoum and was about to join the Godolphin team. Cape Verdi was held up as usual, but when Reid asked her to quicken she failed to respond, finishing a well-beaten fourth behind Embassy. Embassy and Cape Verdi were sent to Godolphin's winter base in Dubai as the first and second favourites for the 1000 Guineas. 1998: three-year-old season In Dubai Cape Verdi seemed to flourish, and after a "sparkling" performances in a private trial race she supplanted Embassy as favourite for the Guineas. Cape Verdi returned from Dubai in May 1998 and was sent straight to the 1000 Guineas without a prep race. Cape Verdi was made 100/30 joint favourite and produced the best performance of her career. Ridden for the first time by Frankie Dettori, she moved up to take the lead a furlong out before "surging" clear and winning by a growing margin of five lengths from the Irish-trained Shahtoush. The Independent described the performance as an "arrogant dismissal" of the opposition while Dettori was enthusiastic: "I've never known a horse like her and she's amazing for a filly". Bookmakers responded by offering her at 2/1 for the Oaks but within days were reporting significant support for the filly in the betting for the Derby. After weeks of speculation it was announced on 28 May that Cape Verdi's owners would pay a £75,000 supplementary fee to run her in be the Derby, a race which no filly had won since Fifinella in 1916 and which only two fillies attempted in the previous fifty years. Confidence and interest in the filly grew, and she was made favourite for the race. Her position looked even stronger when Shahtoush won the Oaks on the day before the Derby. On the day of the race itself she headed the betting at 11/4, ahead of the Irish colts