WHILE Seventh Heaven may have been something of a surprise winner of the Group 1 Darley Irish Oaks on Saturday on bare form, her pedigree would certainly have placed her among the favourites to capture the classic. She is a daughter of Galileo, half-sister to a Group 1 winner, and out of a Grade 3 winning daughter of Johannesburg.

Trained by Patrick Biancone for the Magnier, Smith and Tabor axis, La Traviata only raced four times as a three-year-old in the USA, winning a maiden at Churchill Downs on her debut before capturing the Post Deb Stakes at Monmouth Park and the Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes at Saratoga. Her progression was such that her fourth and final outing was in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. She finished sixth and retired to stud.