QIPCO 1000 GUINEAS

STAKES (GROUP 1)

UNLIKE the 2000, the first fillies’ classic saw all the main form lines represented at Newmarket, the puzzle being that no outstanding individual had emerged prior to Newmarket on which to hang the mantle of expectation.

The fact that the Nell Gwyn winner Qabala was made favourite said more for the perceived flaws in the others than it spoke about her own brilliance.

In the end she performed with great credit to finish third on just her third career start, and she remains capable of making a bigger impact at the top table.

But this race was not about her in the end, but about Aidan O’Brien, for whom Hermosa, (Galileo-Beauty Is Truth) became the trainer’s third winner of the race in the past four years.

O’Brien said of Hermosa, who was having her eighth start: “Physically, she has changed a lot over the winter and really grew into a three-year-old. She is a very tough filly.”

Winning jockey Wayne Lordan, who also won on the stable’s Winter, said: “I rode her aggressively, because she stays really well but she saves a little bit for herself. I would not think she would have any problem staying the Oaks trip. I actually fancied her. I thought she had good form.

“She is a filly who will stay and she saves enough. I knew, riding her here, if you jump out and go real forward and they start lining up behind you, it would take a really good one to get by her.”

She may have appeared the stable’s third-string on riding arrangements behind Just Wonderful and Fairyland, but the daughter of Galileo had little or nothing to find with that pair on form, and despite having plenty of racing last year, she was unexposed beyond seven furlongs, and had run arguably her best race when second in the Fillies’ Mile over track and trip behind Iridessa.

That she should step up to win a classic on her eighth start might have seemed unusual a few years ago, but you’d have to have been asleep for the last decade to have failed to notice the number of fillies that have improved into top-class performers after six, ten, even a dozen starts from the Ballydoyle yard, and the idea that you can pigeon-hole one from these quarters has been disproved time and time again in recent times.

Hermosa is bred to a proven formula, that being Galileo married to speed, and while her dam was an out-and-out five furlong performer for Robert Collet, she has already produced high-class winners at the Oaks trip in Hydrangea and The United States, as well as November Handicap runner-up and mile, seven furlong winner Buonarroti.

None of that trio were tried at a mile and a half until other avenues were explored first, but Hydrangea put up a lifetime best when winning the Fillies & Mares Stakes on British Champions day, and Hermosa outstayed rather than outsprinted her rivals at Newmarket, which makes the Oaks at Epsom look an obvious stepping stone for her.

Of her stablemates, Fairyland had stamina concerns going into the race, and will presumably return to six furlongs, while Just Wonderful never looked at ease, and is best not judged on this performance, for all she lacks physical scope.

The Shelia Lavery-trained Lady Kaya deserves enormous credit for ploughing her own furrow in a group which raced close to the centre of the track. There appearing to be no positional advantage to be gained, and she was the only other filly who looked like winning this race, her natural speed taking her into a good position, and she kept on well enough to fend off the others, while giving the impression she will be best granted more of a test of speed at this trip, in contrast to the winner.

Her rider Robbie Colgan, said: “She’s run a blinder, and done everything her own way. It was only in the last 100 yards that Wayne had us beaten. I think the filly is very fast - she gets six furlongs and stays seven - so I’m not sure about her running over a mile next time.”

She was impressive in the 1000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown, and while many thought she would struggle to confirm form with Iridessa, she did so with ease. Her ability to find a rhythm was always appearing an advantage, and in retrospect, the decision to try to restrain her once or twice last year was not to her advantage, except in that it may have taught her to settle, and she does so beautifully now.

Her options are open, with her effectiveness proven from six furlongs to a mile and she appears equally effective on good and soft ground. She is a wonderful advertisement for the skills of her trainer, having her first classic runner, and is a very easy filly to fall in love with.

She promises to bring great enjoyment not only to her connections, but to a growing army of admirers to boot.

There was a disappointing run from last year’s champion two-year-old filly Skitter Scatter who was beaten over two furlongs out and beat only one home.

Her trainer John Oxx then revealed on Tuesday that she had suffered an injury: “We’ve discovered that Skitter Scatter suffered a muscle tear at Newmarket. We’re not sure when it happened, although it might have happened jumping out of the stalls.

“It’s unfortunate, but at least we have an explanation for her disappointing performance. She will definitely miss the Irish 1,000 Guineas and I would say there’s a big doubt about her making the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.”