Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas (Group 1)

WITH the benefit of hindsight, the result of the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas wasn’t a surprise. Precise had shown enough at home and on the track last year for Ryan Moore to choose her over the trial winner, True Love - also brilliant in her own right - at Newmarket.

Precise was entitled to need the run, too, that day. But a lot rested on whether she was as good as last season and Aidan O’Brien’s chesnut filly silenced any doubts when sweeping by stablemate True Love inside the final furlong and ran on to score by two and a half lengths at odds of 4/1.

Hindsight may have left Ryan Moore kicking himself for switching to the Newmarket heroine at the Curragh, with Wayne Lordan once again benefiting from the embarrassment of riches at Ballydoyle to complete the 1000 Guineas double.

Sunday saw Aidan O’Brien complete the Irish Guineas double, but not with the filly the market predicted, as top-class juvenile Precise (4/1) reversed the form with Newmarket heroine and stablemate True Love (4/6 favourite).

True Love had looked a possible winner approaching the final furlong, when she challenged Charlie Appleby’s lightly-raced Newmarket fifth Abashiri, but neither were a match for Precise.

Moore’s mount kept on for second, finishing half a length in front of Abashiri, while Paddy Twomey’s Black Caviar Gold finished another two and three-quarter lengths further back in fourth.

Draw key

“Delighted,” O’Brien later commented, before delivering his usual acknowledgement of all those involved.

“Jamie, who’s in charge of this filly, does a great job with her with Trevor, who led her up. Roger rides her at home and Rachel rides her work.

“She really stepped forward. Wayne gave her a beautiful ride. In Newmarket, Ryan rode her and she was on the wrong side. He had to move early, because his side was behind. Because she needed the run, she did get tired and Ryan looked after her the last half furlong.

“There was always a chance this could happen, but Roger, who rides her at home, told me ‘this is a different filly than going to Newmarket’, and she showed it there.”

Aidan O’Brien had another reason to celebrate, as the Coolmore and Westerberg-owned winner was bred by himself and wife Anne Marie under their Whisperview Trading banner, which is now managed by their daughter Ana.

The daughter of Starspangledbanner is out of a home-bred full-sister to Kingfisher, who finished second in the Irish Derby, so attention unsurprisingly went to whether Precise would step up in trip in the Oaks.

“I think you’d have to give her a shot over a mile and a half, wouldn’t you?” Annemarie O’Brien reflected when asked.

“Obviously, the lads will make the decision,” the trainer replied. “We’ll see how she comes out of it. I’d say there’s a good chance that she could.”

As well as completing the Irish Guineas double for Aidan O’Brien and Coolmore partners, Precise completed a cleansweep for Starspangledbanner in the weekend’s classics.

When asked to reflect on the Coolmore Stud sire’s achievements, M.V. Magnier reflected: “To be fair, a lot has to go to Anthony Mitten, who owns Rosemont Stud in Australia. He was a shareholder in the horse.

“In his first year, he ended up being pretty subfertile. We’re not really sure how it happened or why it happened, but Anthony said he wanted to keep trying with him. He got him going in Australia and he’s turned out to be very fertile - I think he’s got over 100 mares in foal this year.

“It’s incredible for him to come up with Gstaad and this filly. He’s a very good stallion and he was a very good horse himself, to be fair to him.”