TERRY NEILL, lifelong Liverpool fan and until recently a club shareholder, was paying scant attention to events taking place yesterday along Wembley Way. Instead, he was anticipating an appointment in Athens on Wednesday as he enjoyed the perfect send-off thanks to his filly Red Evie, who continued her remarkable success story by taking the prestigious Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.

Red Evie won seven successive races last season for Neill and trainer Michael Bell, the filly’s part-owner. Her sequence ran the gamut of class divisions, starting with success in an auction maiden race on a chilly March afternoon at Yarmouth and culminating with Group One glory in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown last September.

In that high-profile success, Red Evie was given an inspired ride by Jamie Spencer to beat Peeress, winner of that season’s Lockinge, by a short head. The pair renewed hostilities in yesterday’s Group One mile contest, with Peeress the 11-8 favourite in the field of eight and Red Evie an 8-1 chance, a variance Bell found hard to fathom on the evidence in the form book.

Red Evie, who owes her name to Neill’s love of Liverpool FC and his three-year-old granddaughter, is a mercurial soul who fails to impress on the morning gallops, preferring to strut her stuff for hard cash in the afternoon. Last Saturday she struggled in work against her lead horse, Cool Panic, who is rated 40lb inferior.

Spencer had ridden Red Evie in work only once this year – Bell’s wife Georgina usually has that pleasure – but he was to report that when he cantered her to post, he knew she was primed to raise her game.

The former champion shadowed Peeress, as Speciosa, last year’s 1,000 Guineas winner, headed the field. Passager, the French challenger, took over at the quarter-mile marker and Red Evie edged closer approaching the final furlong before Spencer unleashed a decisive run, which he reflected had been earlier than he would have preferred.

However, Red Evie poached sufficient advantage to hold Ramonti, the former Italian-trained horse having his first start for Godolphin, by a head, with Passager another head back in third. The challenge of Peeress petered out to be sixth, the first time the six-year-old had finished outside the frame in 18 starts.

“She is an amazing filly,” Bell said. “She does nothing at home, and saves herself for the track, and if you had seen her work last Saturday she would have been a 66-1 chance today. She knows it’s a different game. Jamie said going to the start he knew this filly was going to run a big race. She gives her all every time. We are extraordinarily lucky to have her.”

Bell purchased Red Evie as a yearling for 58,000 guineas. Yesterday’s success took the four-year-old’s earnings to just over £318,000, although Bell admitted that there was a lure to consign her to the breeding shed after last year’s achievements.

“There was a big temptation, but at the end of the day, these good ones don’t come around very often, and we’ll have a lot of fun with her,” Bell said. “We were always game on to have a bit more fun out of her. And it has paid big time, as there aren’t many around who can win two Group Ones, and this is the first time she has beaten the colts.” The Group One Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot next month beckons for what is likely to be Red Evie’s valedictory campaign.

“You can’t go on as a five-year-old. There won’t be much juice left in the orange by the end of this year,” Bell said. “We are lucky to have a filly like this and that was a good performance, by any standards. She’s a darling, as is the wife who rides her every day.”