Kodiac's Fairyland Leads a Ballydoyle One-Two In the Flying Five

Co-owner Evie Stockwell and trainer Aidan O'Brien with Fairyland | Racing Post

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There had not been many dances that the Ballydoyle TDN Rising Stars Fairyland (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and So Perfect (Scat Daddy) had not had on their cards in 2019 and it all came together on Sunday as they dominated the finish of The Curragh's G1 Derrinstown Stud Flying Five. In a tight finish, it was Evie Stockwell's colour-bearer Fairyland who prevailed by a short head for Ryan Moore to add to her success in the 2018 G1 Cheveley Park S. Both had been at Haydock last Saturday for the G1 Sprint Cup and while things failed to happen for them there, the pair who shared a starting price of 12-1 raced near the solid early pace before having it between them from the furlong pole. In the event, it was Fairyland who had the extra ounce of speed and she toughed it out with the duo 1 1/2 lengths clear of Invincible Army (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) in third. “In fairness to her, she'd probably never had the ground and trip in her favour all year, but it worked out today,” Moore said of Fairyland. “Aidan's horses always come back and So Perfect ran huge as well. They ran their best races of the season today.”

Fairyland's first visit here came when winning the Listed Marble Hill S. last May and she went on to prove herself among the elite of her generation with a third placing in Royal Ascot's G3 Albany S. and successes in the G2 Lowther S. at York and Cheveley Park at Newmarket. After two failed attempts at a mile in the G1 English and Irish 1000 Guineas in May, she was a commendable fifth shortening up dramatically in the supreme five-furlong test of the G1 King's Stand S. back at the Royal meeting June 18 before running a highly creditable third racing for the most part away from the main action in the G1 July Cup at Newmarket July 13.

After having an argument with York's starting stalls before beating only one of her 10 rivals in the Aug. 23 G1 Nunthorpe S., she was a battling sixth on her first outing on a soft surface in the Haydock Sprint Cup and with the big guns elsewhere this was a winnable race for a sprinter of her calibre. Drawn one against the far rail, she was afforded an uninterrupted run with the veteran target-horse Caspian Prince (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) and 3-year-old Soldier's Call (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) just ahead. Responding to the call to stick her head in front before the furlong pole, she was perfectly-placed in a race in which it paid to be prominent and which played against the well-backed 13-8 favourite Soffia (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) who was unable to make an impact in fifth. She was later reported to have burst a blood vessel.

Aidan O'Brien plans on keeping the star fillies busy into the autumn. “Her best run of the year was back at five at Ascot in the King's Stand, the ground was too soft for her at Haydock and she got upset in the stalls and banged her head before that [at York],” he explained. “You would have to be delighted with both of them and I'd say they will go for the [Oct. 6 G1 Prix de l'] Abbaye [at ParisLongchamp]. Fairyland is qualified now for the Breeders' Cup, but Mrs Stockwell and the lads will decide on that. She was bought originally to go to Galileo, so I'd doubt she will stay in training next year.”

Fairyland is one of two pattern-race winners out of the unraced Queenofthefairies (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) alongside the classy G2 Kingston S. and G3 Derrinstown Stud 1000 Guineas Trial S. scorer Now Or Never (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}) who was also third in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas. The second dam Land of Dreams (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}) was successful in the G2 Flying Childers S. and G3 King George S. over this trip before producing the brilliant five-times group 1-winning sire Dream Ahead (Diktat {GB}). The third dam Sahara Star (GB) (Green Desert), who was also a winner at five in the G3 Molecomb S., is the ancestress of the G3 Princess Margaret S. winner and G1 Cheveley Park S. runner-up Princess Noor (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), the G3 Amethyst S. scorer Zihba (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}) and this year's Listed Prix de Pontarme winner Noor Sahara (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}). Queenofthefairies' unraced 2-year-old filly Manaajim (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) was a 925,000gns purchase by Shadwell at the Tattersalls October Book 1 Sale.

Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
DERRINSTOWN STUD FLYING FIVE S.-G1, €400,000, Curragh, 9-15, 3yo/up, 5fT, :57.88, gd.
1–FAIRYLAND (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Kodiac (GB)
1st Dam: Queenofthefairies (GB), by Pivotal (GB)
2nd Dam: Land of Dreams (GB), by Cadeaux Genereux (GB)
3rd Dam: Sahara Star (GB), by Green Desert
(925,000gns Ylg '17 TATOCT). O-Mrs E M Stockwell, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Tally-Ho Stud (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €228,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Eng, 12-5-0-2, $824,718. *1/2 to Now or Never (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}), GSW & G1SP-Ire, GSW-Aus, $283,187. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–So Perfect, 126, f, 3, Scat Daddy–Hopeoverexperience, by Songandaprayer. ($400,000 Ylg '17 KEESEP). O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Machmer Hall (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien. €80,000.
3–Invincible Army (Ire), 130, c, 4, Invincible Spirit (Ire)–Rajeem (GB), by Diktat (GB). (95,000gns Ylg '16 TATOCT; 290,000gns RNA 2yo '17 TATBRE). O-Saeed Manana; B-Rabbah Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-James Tate. €40,000.
Margins: NO, 1HF, HF. Odds: 12.00, 12.00, 12.00.
Also Ran: Soldier's Call (GB), Soffia (GB), Mabs Cross (GB), Caspian Prince (Ire), Hit the Bid (GB), Chessman (Ire), Houtzen (Aus), True Mason (GB). Scratched: Urban Beat (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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