By Tom Frary
Aidan O'Brien had won The Curragh's G1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes on 17 occasions prior to Sunday's renewal, but Sun Goddess (Sioux Nation) produced a landmark of her own as the first filly to land the six-furlong feature for the current Ballydoyle handler.
Not an obvious 5-4 favourite for such a competitive affair on the formbook, the heavily-backed Airlie Stud Stakes winner and Albany runner-up showed why the money had come with scintillating acceleration to come from last and record a 1 1/4-length success from fellow TDN Rising Star Folsom Blues (Blue Point). “She's very special we think,” said the trainer. “She's a beautiful filly and, with the benefit of hindsight, went to Ascot probably a little under par and is obviously very high quality.”
Runner-up to Carry The Flag (No Nay Never) on debut at Naas before turning in a masterclass with a five-length success over this course and distance in May, Sun Goddess had surprisingly failed to deal with Libertango at the Royal meeting before recording a workmanlike win in the Group 2 eight days later and so the jury was slightly out. This emphatic display may have come as a surprise to the pundits, but evidently not to those closest to her who had witnessed her trajectory in the interim.
Anchored early by Ryan Moore with Carry The Flag providing the strong tempo up ahead, she was asked to swoop two out and responded in dramatic fashion to land in front less than a furlong later in an impressive show of sprinting power. Dropping back from seven furlongs, Folsom Blues stayed on best of the rest while a further half length away in third was the First Flier winner and Princess Margaret Stakes third Velozee (Sioux Nation).
“Before Ascot, she had a foot bruise for a few days and Ryan felt that when she got to the front there she tired a little bit, which can happen,” O'Brien explained. “We took a chance running her back here a week afterwards and she did that on pure ability, but she had a good run into this and her work was beautiful.”
“She's a good-looking, slick filly and we were going to put the pace on today to find out whether she was a six-furlong filly or whether she would get seven and Ryan gave her a beautiful ride, he was very confident and said he was going to get there very late,” he added of the winner, who was emulating her sire's success in 2017. “He said she ended up getting there too early, but then she went again whereas at Ascot she got tired.”
Options are abundant for Ballydoyle's latest starlet, with O'Brien eyeing every possible target. “She has a lot of gears and a very high cruising pace–Ryan said they went fast and when he started to ask her she motored clear and will have no problem getting seven,” he said. “She could go to the Moyglare and she could go to the Cheveley Park and go to America then if you wanted. When they have physical scope and a mind like that and are as clear-winded I would imagine a mile shouldn't be any problem to her. I'd imagine she won't get much further.”
With Alpha in the yard, O'Brien has what is becoming a customary annual quandary. “Alpha could go to the Debutante, whereas this filly will be Group 1s all the way now,” he added. “We'll try and keep them split up for as long as possible, but the Moyglare is a hard race to win and an important race and so the lads will decide what to do with them then. Alpha will get a mile and a quarter and could get a mile and a half next year, while a mile will be the top for this filly, but you could chance a mile at the Breeders' Cup maybe.”
Last ➡️ first 🌞
Sun Goddess becomes the first Aidan O'Brien-trained filly to win the @keeneland Phoenix Stakes.@coolmorestud | @Ballydoyle | @curraghrace pic.twitter.com/2A7FbFYKqL
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 9, 2026
Pedigree Notes
Sun Goddess is the third foal out of the unraced Etoile Bleu (Starspangledbanner), a half-sister to the four-time South African Group winner Gibraltar Blue (Rock Of Gibraltar) and the Phoenix Sprint Stakes winner Scream Blue Murder (Oratorio). The latter's Listed-winning and Group 2-placed daughter Too Soon To Panic (Gleneagles) is the dam of the recent Prix Jean Prat and Jersey Stakes hero Thesecretadversary (St Mark's Basilica). Etoile Bleu's yearling filly by Blue Point is catalogued to sell at Tattersalls Book 1.
Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
KEENELAND PHOENIX STAKES-G1, €400,000, Curragh, 8-9, 2yo, 6fT, 1:09.67, g/f.
1–SUN GODDESS (IRE), 128, f, 2, by Sioux Nation
1st Dam: Etoile Bleu (Ire), by Starspangledbanner (Aus)
2nd Dam: Holly Blue (GB), by Bluebird
3rd Dam: Nettle, by Kris (GB)
TDN Rising Star. 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (£120,000 Ylg '25 GOFFUK). O-Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Westerberg; B-Owenstown Bloodstock Ltd; T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €240,000. Lifetime Record: GSP-Eng, 5-3-2-0, $420,767. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Folsom Blues (Ire), 131, c, 2, Blue Point (Ire)–Liwa Palace (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB). TDN Rising Star. 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Al Shira'aa Racing Ltd; T-Joseph O'Brien. €80,000.
3–Velozee (Ire), 128, f, 2, Sioux Nation–Ocean Life (Ire), by Territories (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (€92,000 Ylg '25 GOFORY). O-Gary Matthews, Steve Weston & Lucky Hat; B-Grange & Manister House Studs; T-Paddy Twomey. €40,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, HF, 3 3/4. Odds: 1.25, 7.50, 11.00.
Also Ran: Carry The Flag (Ire), Tribeca (Ire), The Scallionator (Ire), Celeron (GB), King Of Cloughan (Ire).
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