By Tom Frary
Coming into Monday's G3 Coolmore Stud Auguste Rodin Irish EBF Athasi Stakes on the back of a debut win at modest Bellewstown, Barry Fowler's Atsila sprang a minor surprise to stake her Irish 1,000 Guineas claim over the same mile trip and Curragh track later this month. Belying inexperience by having the nous to thread between rivals under Gavin Ryan towards the business end, the daughter of Phoenix Of Spain who was a 11-1 shot overhauled the experienced Cercene inside the final 100 yards for a half-length verdict. There was another neck margin between Australia's runner-up, who had been third in the G3 Ballylinch Stud Priory Belle Stakes last time, and another established Group performer in Calyx's Barnavara in third.
Trainer Donnacha O'Brien admitted to underestimating the winner afterwards. “I spoke to Barry last week about putting her in the Coronation Stakes. I talked him out of it and obviously shouldn't have,” he said. “If she comes out of it very well, Barry mentioned that we could supplement for the Irish Guineas or something like that. All you can do from now is go up in class and see where her level is. She's two-from-two and she's earned a shot at a good race.”
“She's lazy at home, so you don't really know you have her,” O'Brien added. “We gave her a run in Bellewstown and she bolted up from a position she shouldn't have. We said we'd throw her in the deep end here and she's coped with that as well, so she's obviously a very solid filly. They went hard, there were no hiding places, she travelled well. She got a little bit tight for room as well, if she had a clear run she might have won a bit further.”
Unbeaten!
Atsila (Phoenix Of Spain) arrives here after a maiden win at Bellewstown last month and is now a Group 3 winner on her second start, landing the @coolmorestud @IrishEBF_ Athasi Stakes for Donnacha O'Brien @curraghrace pic.twitter.com/KnDeUeJoa4
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 5, 2025
Pedigree Notes
Atsila's dam Scala Romana has already produced a smart middle-distance performer in French Navy's Layfayette, whose career-best came in this card's feature G2 Mooresbridge Stakes and who also captured the G3 Alleged Stakes and G3 Royal Whip Stakes here. The third dam is Juddmonte's Listed Cheshire Oaks winner and G1 St Leger and G1 Yorkshire Oaks runner-up High And Low, whose half-sister Wells Fargo produced the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains, G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Racing Post Trophy-winning sire American Post. Scala Romana's 2-year-old filly by Blue Point was a cheap-looking €22,000 purchase by Brian Grassick Bloodstock at Tattersalls Ireland September.
Monday, The Curragh, Ireland
COOLMORE STUD AUGUSTE RODIN IRISH EBF ATHASI STAKES-G3, €67,500, Curragh, 5-5, 3yo, f, 8fT, 1:40.03, gd.
1–ATSILA (IRE), 128, f, 3, by Phoenix Of Spain (Ire)
1st Dam: Scala Romana (Ire), by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire)
2nd Dam: Sliding Scale (GB), by Sadler's Wells
3rd Dam: High And Low (GB), by Rainbow Quest
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN. (€27,000 RNA Wlg '22 GOFNO1; €50,000 Ylg '23 GOFOR). O-Barry Fowler; B-Paul & Elizabeth Duffy (IRE); T-Donnacha O'Brien; J-Gavin Ryan. €40,500. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $55,647. *1/2 to Layfayette (Ire) (French Navy {GB}), MGSW-Ire, MGSP-Eng, $477,667. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Cercene (Ire), 128, f, 3, Australia (GB)–Tschierschen (Ire), by Acclamation (GB). (€50,000 Ylg '23 TATIRY). O-Shane R Stafford; B-China Horse Club International Ltd (IRE); T-Joseph G Murphy. €13,500.
3–Barnavara (Ire), 128, f, 3, Calyx (GB)–Alfea (GB), by Kentucky Dynamite. (€70,000 Ylg '23 GOFOR). O-Alpha Racing; B-Mr Andriy Milovonov & V Tymoshenko (IRE); T-Jessica Harrington. €6,750.
Margins: HF, NK, HF. Odds: 11.00, 3.30, 10.00.
Also Ran: California Dreamer (GB), Mojave River (Fr), Garden of Eden (Ire), Chantez (Ire), Nancy J (Ire), Easy Mover (Ire), Bint Queen Kindly (Ire), And So To Bed (Ire). Scratched: Copacabana Sands (Ire).
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
