By Tom Frary
Confirming that she has lost none of her juvenile power, Juddmonte's Babouche who was second-favourite behind old rival Whistlejacket for Sunday's G3 Goffs Lacken Stakes duly did what she had done to him in last year's G1 Phoenix Stakes. Keen early for Colin Keane denied cover in the Naas feature, the 2-1 second favourite was delivered to swamp Ballydoyle's 4-5 market-leader two out en route to a 2 3/4-length success.
“That's the first time I've seen that this year from her,” trainer Ger Lyons said of the daughter of Kodiac, who had lost some lustre in September when fourth in the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes but was at her best to bring up a treble for Lyons and Keane on the card with the duo having already won the 2-year-old Group 3 with Lady Iman. “Now she's back and we can go to the Commonwealth [Cup] and if we get beat we get beat, but at least we know we are locked and loaded.”
Prepped for this when fourth under a penalty in the five-furlong Listed Polonia Stakes 12 days earlier, Babouche was executing a well-laid plan according to Lyons. “We sucked it up and we went to Cork, it wasn't the obvious right thing to do but it was the right thing to do for what I was seeing at home,” he explained. “We parked the reputation and the ego thinking she was going to get beaten because it was a furlong too short, but we'd spent the whole Spring trying to settle her down and getting her to do it right.”
Pedigree Notes
Babouche's dam Pavlosk by Arch, who was successful in the Listed Michael Seely Memorial Stakes over a mile, is also responsible for Dansili's Stakes-placed Derevo and this stable's Zarinsk also by Kodiac whose four black-type wins included the G2 Minstrel Stakes, G3 Brownstown Stakes and G3 Cornelscourt Stakes.
Pavlosk, whose 2-year-old filly Hinder is by Expert Eye and who also has a yearling filly by Bated Breath, is a full-sister to the fellow Listed winner Rostova and a half to the dual Group 3 scorer and G1 Gran Premio di Milano-placed Stakes producer Exhibit One. This is the family of Zafonic and Zamindar which includes the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches runner-up Irish Rookie.
Electric ⚡️
Babouche dazzles in the Lacken Stakes to complete a brilliant day for Ger Lyons and @ctkjockey 💚🩷🤍
Surely she'll now head to the Commonwealth Cup?@Goffs1866 | @NaasRacecourse pic.twitter.com/Xffry9fH48
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 18, 2025
Sunday, Naas, Ireland
GOFFS LACKEN STAKES-G3, €60,000, Naas, 5-18, 3yo, 5f 205yT, 1:09.51, gd.
1–BABOUCHE (GB), 131, f, 3, by Kodiac (GB)
1st Dam: Pavlosk (SW-Eng), by Arch
2nd Dam: Tsar's Pride (GB), by Sadler's Wells
3rd Dam: Bold Empress, by Diesis (GB)
TDN Rising Star. O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd; T-Ger Lyons; J-Colin Keane. €36,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Ire, 6-4-0-0, $332,634. *1/2 to Derevo (GB) (Dansili {GB}), SP-KSA, $524,527; Full to Zarinsk (GB), MGSW-Ire, $258,347. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Whistlejacket (Ire), 134, c, 3, No Nay Never–Adventure Seeker (Fr), by Bering (GB). (500,000gns Ylg '23 TATOCT). O-Peter M Brant, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Camas Park, Lynch Bages & Summerhill (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €12,000.
3–Carla Ridge (Ire), 128, f, 3, New Bay (GB)–Almira Wells (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (€32,000 Ylg '23 TATIRY; €105,000 2yo '24 ARQBRU). O-Dan Kiely; B-Mrs S Rowley-Williams (IRE); T-Eddie & Patrick Harty. €6,000.
Margins: 2 3/4, SHD, 3 3/4. Odds: 2.00, 0.80, 10.00.
Also Ran: Bodhi Bear (Ire), Temperance (Ire), Treasure Isle (Ire).
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