RULING THE ROOST
   Yesterday's G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas was delayed by 30 minutes due to the fatal injury sustained by Gray Pearl (GB) (Excellent Art {GB}) as she became stuck under the stalls and there was more drama to come in the race as Ballydoyle's 25-1 shot Homecoming Queen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) upstaged her stable companion Maybe (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to win by nine lengths. Warming up for this by taking the seven-furlong G3 Leopardstown 1000 Guineas Trial Apr. 15, Susan Magnier's 3/4-sister to Dylan Thomas (Ire) (Danehill) led from the outset and kept surging clear to record the second-longest winning distance in the race's history. Starscope (GB) (Selkirk) emerged best from the chasing pack to be second, with the 13-8 favorite Maybe a further length back in third. "Aidan just said she was very fit and well and is a little devil--you never know what she is going to do," jockey Ryan Moore said. "I thought I was going a stride too quick really, but she just kept going. She obviously enjoys going like that and although there is not much of her, she tries very hard and is very tough."

Sunday, Newmarket, Britain
QIPCO 1000 GUINEAS S.-G1, £376,500, Newmarket, 5-6, 3yo, f, 1mT, 1:40.45, gd/sf.
1--HOMECOMING QUEEN (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire)
                  1st Dam: Lagrion, by Diesis (GB)
                  2nd Dam: Wrap It Up (Ire), by Mount Hagen (Fr)
                  3rd Dam: Doc Nan, by Francis S.
O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Tower Bloodstock; T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore; £213,513. Lifetime Record: MGSW-Ire, 14-4-1-2, £278,708. *1/2 to Queen's Logic (Ire) (Grand Lodge), Ch. 2yo Filly-Eur & Eng, G1SW-Eng, $288,571; Love to Dance (Sadler's Wells), GSP-Ire; 3/4 to Dylan Thomas (Ire) (Danehill), Co. Hwt. at 3yo-Ire at 14+f, Hwt. 3yo-Ire at 11-14f, Hwt. Older Horse-Fr & Ire at 11-14f, Hwt. Older Horse-Ire at 9.5-11f, MG1SW-Ire, Fr & Eng, $6,597,728; Remember When (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), G1SP-Eng. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.2--Starscope (GB), 126, f, 3, Selkirk--Moon Goddess (GB), by Rainbow Quest. O/B-Cheveley Park Stud Ltd; T-John Gosden; £80,948.
3--Maybe (Ire), 126, f, 3, Galileo (Ire)--Sumora (Ire), by Danehill. (€340,000 yrl '10 ARQAUG). O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Epona Bloodstock Ltd; T-Aidan O'Brien; £40,511.   
Margins: 9, 1, 3/4. Odds: 25-1, 33-1, 13-8.      
Also Ran: The Fugue (GB), La Collina (Ire), Alla Speranza (GB), Lily's Angel (Ire), Laugh Out Loud (GB), Nayarra (Ire), Sunday Times (GB), Diala (Ire), Mashoora (Ire), Lightening Pearl (Ire), Radio Gaga (GB), Moonstone Magic (GB), Discourse, Lyric of Light (GB). Scratched: Gray Pearl (GB).
Click for the Racing Post chart, the brisnet.com PPs or the free brisnet.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, courtesy Racing UK. 
   Much like the stable's multiple top-level scorer of 2007 Peeping Fawn (Danehill), Homecoming Queen did all her learning on the track during the formative stage of her career and took eight starts to get off the mark. When doing so, in a modest seven-furlong Fairyhouse nursery in mid-September, she showed what she was capable of when asked to stretch from an early part of the race and those tactics almost earned her a black-type success in the G3 C L Weld Park S. over that trip at The Curragh a week later. Second to Coral Wave (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) on that occasion, she returned to that venue to win the Listed Lanwades & Staffordstown Studs S. over a mile the next month and was last to finish on the Churchill dirt in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies' in November. Only ninth on her comeback in the G3 Park Express S. over a mile back at The Curragh Mar. 25, the bay upset Fire Lily (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) in the G3 Leopardstown 1000 Guineas Trial and was underestimated once again by the crowds who assumed she would merely set the pace for Maybe. Like quicksilver from the gates after the lengthy hold-up, she had established more than a two-length lead by halfway and had already inflicted major damage by the time she reached the quarter pole safely clear. Her sectional splits from over the third, fourth and fifth furlongs of 11.57, 12.01 and 12.13 showed that she had already killed off all opposition if she could maintain her momentum to the line. Despite rolling right onto the far rail running downhill, she never looked like giving up any ground and stayed well beyond the reach of the staying-on Starscope and one-paced Maybe. "She's a hardy, tough filly with a great pedigree who has progressed and in the last couple of weeks she has gone into a different zone," commented Aidan O'Brien. "When Seamus [Heffernan] won on her last year, he didn't know what to make of her but said she could be very smart and Joseph [O'Brien] won a Listed race on her at the Curragh and said she had a massive engine. We went to the Breeders' Cup with her after that, but she was entitled to run a little bit disappointing there and she got a bit tired first time up at the Curragh this year before winning nicely at Leopardstown last time. When a filly has a pedigree like that and they start progressing, they can really go on--Dylan Thomas and Holy Roman Emperor were progressive like that as well. It was an incredible performance--Joseph said she was the filly he was most worried about, as she would be going off in front and it was Maybe's first run. I was delighted with Maybe, too, as fitness came into it when the ground got slow. They have a lot of options, so we'll see how they are. Homecoming Queen is really strong-minded and can plough her own furrow and she could go for the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas [at The Curragh May 27], but we'll talk about it. Maybe is more like a colt, so racing will help her."