Galileo's Hermosa Dominates the 1000 Guineas

Unusually, Galileo (Ire) was without a representative in the 2000 Guineas, so his one shot in Sunday's G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket just had to hit the target if the laws of the universe applied in their customary way. The inevitability that Hermosa (Ire) would triumph for her immeasurably important sire seemed to evade the betting public, but with every passing furlong of the Rowley Mile test her starting price of 14-1 grew ever-more incredulous as Wayne Lordan took the race by the scruff of the neck. There was a brief moment when the Cheveley Park colour-bearer Angel's Hideaway (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) managed to get ahead of her running down into the Suffolk venue's infamous “dip”, but brief was all it was ever going to be as that unceasing determination took hold. Once the full-sister to Hydrangea (Ire) was safely on the rising ground to the line, there was only one result in the offing and she got there just a tick off the time of stablemate Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) 24 hours earlier. At the finish a length separated her and the rags-to-riches compatriot Lady Kaya (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who in turn was a neck in front of the 7-2 favourite Qabala (Scat Daddy) who fared best of the British in third. “She likes to bowl along and saves a bit, so when I saw her flick an ear I was happy,” commented Lordan, who rode Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) to another surprise success for the yard in 2017. “She'll stay a mile and a quarter no problem and she's a very easy ride–you can put her anywhere.”
This is the fourth time that Aidan O'Brien has won both Newmarket Guineas over the weekend and his fifth renewal of this Classic in total. Unsurprisingly, he was pointing at the May 31 G1 Epsom Oaks for last year's G1 Fillies' Mile and G1 Criterium International runner-up. “Her sister got a mile and a half in soft ground at Ascot, so we always thought she would stay and be an Oaks filly,” he explained. “She's very laid-back and lazy with a great mind. She got passed and came again, so that's a great sign. It's such an advantage to have Galileo's influence and he's going to be so massive for years to come. It's that will-to-win that makes them so different and they are so genuine when push comes to shove. They will get down on their knees for you when the real fight comes. She's always been a very good filly–Donnacha has been riding her in all her work and thought she was going to be his danger, so he wanted to follow her [on Iridessa]. She has improved a lot over the winter, Wayne gave her a great ride and she kept coming.”
Like Hydrangea before her, Hermosa was an industrious juvenile and that aptitude to her work earned her a G3 Weld Park S. success at Naas in September and a third placing in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. at The Curragh in September both over seven furlongs prior to her main autumn engagements. Second to Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler of a the World {Ire}) in the Fillies' Mile over this track and trip in October, she was back in action 16 days later when second to Godolphin's colt Royal Meeting (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in the seven-furlong G1 Criterium International at Chantilly. Extra time was always going to serve her well, with her late foaling date being May 6, so it is a credit to her temperament and testament to the undeniable quality in her pedigree that she has thrived on a busy career.
Lady Kaya's fairytale journey continues apace and trainer Sheila Lavery was understandably delighted with her performance afterwards, but her doubts about this mile remain. “At the back of mind I was just a bit worried, but she very nearly got there,” she said. “I'm not discounting a mile, but I will go back and look at it and take advice. I'm just ecstatic. I suppose in a way it hasn't sunk in–but now I will have a drink and relax once I go see how she has walked off. I know Richard Hannon said yesterday 'who remembers second', but I will remember this second.”
Roger Varian was more in keeping with Hannon's philosophy as he reflected on the effort of Qabala. “You are a bit disappointed not to win, always,” he said. “It was tight two from home. I'm not going to say she would have won, because it was too far out and it is a too grey an area to say that. But he [David Egan] thought it cost him about a length, because he couldn't hold his pitch and he has had to come out around Fairyland–just when you want to really run in a straight line. It is disappointing not to win, but I can't fault anyone or the filly because she has run a great race.” Aidan O'Brien said of the fifth-placed Fairyland (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), “She's a fast filly and so we were always worried about her and the trip. “She's a big, powerful filly with a great mind and there was always the chance that she would drop back after today.”
Hermosa is now the third group 1 winner for Beauty Is Truth (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), who raced for Richard Strauss and captured the five-furlong G3 Prix d'Arenberg as a 2-year-old and the G2 Prix du Gros-Chene at three. The pace displayed by Hermosa throughout at least the first half of this Classic stems directly from that daughter of the similarly fast and precocious fellow Kilfrush Stud-bred G3 Prix du Bois winner Zelding (Ire) (Warning {GB}). Proof that Galileo's matings with fast mares can produce that ultimate in racing, stayers that can carry speed, is seen most obviously in the exploits of Hydrangea who was able to win Leopardstown's seven-furlong G3 Ballylinch Stud 1000 Guineas Trial and that track's G1 Matron S. over a mile and–as O'Brien stated in his post-race interview here–then win the 12-furlong G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. Beauty Is Truth's The United States (Ire) was also successful over middle-distances and recorded a career-best win in the 10-furlong G1 Ranvet S., in contrast to the dual six-furlong group 3 winner Fire Lily (Ire) who was by Dansili (GB) and only just stayed a mile.
Zelding's other daughter of note was Glorious Sight (Ire) (Singspiel {Ire}), who took the Listed Prix Finlande and was runner-up in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches before selling to Oceanic Bloodstock for €1.7million at the Arqana Arc Sale in 2011. Zelding is kin to the G2 Prix Robert Papin winner and G1 Middle Park S. runner-up Zipping (Ire) (Zafonic) and the G3 Prix du Petit Couvert scorer Nipping (Ire) (Night Shift), with this family also featuring the GI Breeders' Cup Mile hero and leading sire Last Tycoon (Ire) (Try My Best), the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois and G1 Coronation S. heroine Immortal Verse (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) and the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Valentine Waltz (Ire) (Be My Guest). Beauty Is Truth is one of Galileo's permanent dates and her 2-year-old full-sister to the winner is named Salsa (Ire). Her yearling is again a filly.

Sunday, Newmarket, Britain
QIPCO 1000 GUINEAS S.-G1, £500,000, Newmarket, 5-5, 3yo, f, 8fT, 1:36.89, gd.
1–HERMOSA (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Galileo (Ire)
1st Dam: Beauty Is Truth (Ire) (MGSW-Fr, $226,426), by Pivotal (GB)
2nd Dam: Zelding (Ire), by Warning (GB)
3rd Dam: Zelda (Ire), by Caerleon
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Beauty Is Truth Syndicate (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Wayne Lordan. £283,550. Lifetime Record: GSW & G1SP-Ire, G1SP-Fr, 8-3-2-1, $678,588. *Full to Hydrangea (Ire), G1SW-Eng & Ire, G1SP-Fr, $1,313,667; and The United States (Ire), G1SW-Aus & GSW-Ire, $1,684,244; and 1/2 to Fire Lily (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), Hwt. 3yo-Ire at 5-7f, MGSW & G1SP-Ire, G1SP-Fr & GSP-Eng, $412,541. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Lady Kaya (Ire), 126, f, 3, Dandy Man (Ire)–Kayak (GB), by Singspiel (Ire). (€15,000 Wlg '16 GOFNOV; €12,000 RNA Ylg '17 TIRSEP). O-Joanne Lavery; B-John O'Connor (IRE); T-Sheila Lavery. £107,500.
3–Qabala, 126, f, 3, Scat Daddy–Entwine, by Empire Maker. ($300,000 Wlg '16 FTKNOV). O-HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani; B-Eutrophia Farm (KY); T-Roger Varian. £53,800.
Margins: 1, NK, HD. Odds: 14.00, 11.00, 3.50.
Also Ran: Angel's Hideaway (Ire), Fairyland (Ire), Just Wonderful, Iconic Choice (GB), Iridessa (Ire), Look Around (GB), Dandhu (GB), Star Terms (GB), Garrel Glen (GB), Mot Juste, Skitter Scatter, Fleeting (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.