By Tom Frary
Ballydoyle's thirst-quenching Irish Champions weekend continued apace on Sunday as the G3 Silver Flash S. winner Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) came out on top of her juvenile peers in The Curragh's G1 Moyglare Stud S. Sent off at 6-1 following a disappointing fifth as the favourite for the G2 Debutante S. over this course and distance Aug. 23, the chestnut enjoyed a smooth run throughout under Ryan Moore just off the early pace. Sent to the front a furlong from home, she stayed on strongly from there with the 13-8 favourite Daahyeh (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) narrowing the margin to 3/4 of a length at the line, with the same margin back to fellow Ballydoyle trainee So Wonderful (War Front) in third. “We think she is a filly who will step up when she goes a mile and the worry was that she was staying at seven, but we were trying to keep her at this trip for as long as we could,” Aidan O'Brien said after registering a ninth success in this always-informative contest. “We were thinking of the [Oct. 11 G1] Fillies' Mile [at Newmarket] after this and she is a very genuine filly who is progressing with every run–a typical Galileo. That family all get a mile and a half well at three, so it's very exciting for her and she has a lovely mind, too.”
Love ran second to TDN Rising Star Windracer (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) in a maiden over this course and distance on her second start June 27 before beating Soul Search (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) at Leopardstown July 11. Emphatic in the Silver Flash back there a fortnight later, she was unable to repeat that dominance in the Debutante on the easiest ground she had yet to encounter. Back on a livelier surface, she was able to employ that Galileo stubbornness once taking over from old rival Soul Search and draw the sting from the field. The most recent renewals of this race have seen her stable test the future luminaries Hermosa (Ire), Magical (Ire), Hydrangea (Ire), Rhododendron (Ire), Minding (Ire), Alice Springs (Ire), Found (Ire), Tapestry (Ire), Maybe (Ire) and Misty For Me (Ire) all by the legendary sire. It is nigh-on certain that Love is a name that will reappear in lights at this level at some point in the future.
Daahyeh, who was having her first run over this trip, may even go further according to Roger Varian. “It's always frustrating when you go so close, but we have no complaints,” he said. “She ran to the line and got the trip well, but the winner looked very good and stayed on strongly. I think on that performance it looks like a mile is within reach and she looks a good strong filly who can have another run or two this year. The race that probably excites me most is the [Nov. 1 GI] Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, as she's very well-balanced, handles fast ground and it looks like she will get an easy mile at Santa Anita. Whether she goes to Newmarket for the Fillies' Mile first, we'll see how she comes out of this.”
Love's dam Pikaboo (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) has already produced this year's G3 Stanerra S. winner Peach Tree (Ire) and the 2018 G3 Munster Oaks winner Flattering (Ire) by Galileo, plus the G2 Lowther S. and G2 Cherry Hinton S. winner Lucky Kristale (GB) (Lucky Story). Pikaboo's siblings include the triple group 2- winning seven-furlong specialist Arabian Gleam (GB) and the listed-winning sprinter Kimberella (GB) by Pivotal's son Kyllachy (GB) and Light Quest (Quest For Fame {GB}), who is in turn the dam of the G3 Prix Fille de l'Air scorer Skia (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) and the Singapore Gold Cup winner Tropaios (GB) (Excellent Art {GB}). This is also the family of the G1 English and Irish 2000 Guineas-winning sire Don't Forget Me (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}).
Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
MOYGLARE STUD S.-G1, €400,000, Curragh, 9-15, 2yo, f, 7fT, 1:24.28, gd.
1–LOVE (IRE), 126, f, 2, by Galileo (Ire)
1st Dam: Pikaboo (GB), by Pivotal (GB)
2nd Dam: Gleam of Light (Ire), by Danehill
3rd Dam: Gold Runner, by Runnett (GB)
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €228,000. Lifetime Record: 6-3-1-0, $310,712. *Full to Flattering (Ire), GSW-Ire & SP-Eng; Peach Tree (Ire), GSW-Ire, $137,084; and 1/2 to Lucky Kristale (GB) (Lucky Story), MGSW-Eng, $288,793. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Daahyeh (GB), 126, f, 2, Bated Breath (GB)">Bated Breath (GB)–Affluent (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB). (£75,000 Ylg '18 GOUKPR). O-HH Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa; B-D J & Mrs Deer (GB); T-Roger Varian. €80,000.
3–So Wonderful, 126, f, 2, War Front">War Front–Wonder of Wonders, by Kingmambo. O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien. €40,000.
Margins: 3/4, 3/4, HF. Odds: 6.00, 1.60, 16.00.
Also Ran: Soul Search (Ire), Under the Stars (Ire), Albigna (Ire), Tango (Ire), Precious Moments (Ire), Assurance (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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