Yulong Pretty Polly Stakes (Group 1)

IT took Jamie Spencer just under four years to ride his 40th Group/Grade 1 winner on the flat through Khaadem at Royal Ascot but just seven days later he had a 41st on George Boughey’s Via Sistina (6/4 favourite) in the Yulong Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday.

The Rebecca and Stephen Hillen-owned daughter of Fastnet Rock came to the Curragh in great shape, having won the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes by all of six lengths, and with that race having its form boosted yet again the previous evening, she was sent off 6/4 favourite.

She travelled well off a strong pace set by Trevaunance, who was pushed forward by Above The Curve, and in truth that probably played into the hands of Spencer, who looked to have timed his run in fine style in the straight when the pair came down the outside.

The only worry came when she hung right and impeded the runner-up Stay Alert, who had just been gathering momentum coming through runners.

A stewards’ inquiry was called but the gap was two lengths at the line and the result was never in doubt. That did not however dissuade connections of the runner-up in appealing the decision on Tuesday.

Second Group 1

This was a second Group 1 winner for George Boughey, who sent out Cachet to win the 1000 Guineas last season, though this one may be a little more sweet in the short term, after he suffered a blow earlier in the week when owner Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah removed 12 horses from his care.

Via Sistina now has three wins from four starts for him, having previously been trained by Joseph Tuite. Remarkably, she cost just 5,000gns and was sourced by her present owner, who acts as a bloodstock agent and notably suggested she looked like a moose when he bought her.

Hillen took up the story from the Curragh: “She was a foal share and she wasn’t protected, basically she went in with no reserve.

“I saw her a couple of times and she had a great action but she’s nearly 17hh and she looked pretty backward. You needed a fair bit of imagination because she looked like she needed a long time, she was either going to be good or very slow.

“I looked at her in the first place because of the (pedigree) cross. I think it’s about 10% Group 1 winners (from Fastnet Rock out of Galileo mares). It’s a good stat and I wasn’t really doing anything smart. I don’t know if I will sell her on now, my wife is very attached to her.”

Via Sistina has plenty of options now, and given her lightly-raced profile, this was just her 10th ever start, there is every chance she can improve again.

“She’s very versatile, I think she can go a mile to a mile and a half,” Hillen said. “She likes going in a straight line as well so she could go to the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket in 13 days’ time.

“After that there is the Nassau and she’ll be in most of the big races. She’s in the Yorkshire Oaks and the International at York. You wouldn’t be risking her on anything with firm in it.”

The runner-up Stay Alert ran a fine race for Hughie Morrison and her rider Ronan Whelan felt she could have finished a lot closer had he not had to check his run. Above The Curve seemed to run her race in third, though she may have paid for heading up a searching gallop.

THE Group 3 Paddy Power International Stakes featured the delayed comeback of last year’s National Stakes winner Al Riffa, who was sent off odds-on to make a winning start at three, but the race only concerned Mashhoor (6/1).

The Johnny Murtagh-trained gelding was quick out of the gates for Ben Coen, opened up a sizeable lead and it was clear from early in the straight he was going to take a lot of pegging back. Al Riffa was the main one giving chase, but fitness probably told from here, and Mashhoor, a winner at a mile and a half, was never going to stop over the 10 furlongs.

The win sparked joyous scenes in the winner’s enclosure for his Co Meath owners, the Brunabonne Syndicate, which is headed up by All-Ireland winner Tommy Dowd.

“It’s really very special when Tommy Dowd comes to you in the parade ring and says ‘I’m more nervous now than I was on All-Ireland day’,” Murtagh revealed. “I said ‘Ah come on, sure we don’t have anything to do anymore – it’s up to Ben now’.

“In fairness to the horse you have to say he has improved immensely. He picked up a little injury last year and I suppose it stood to him this year.

“He’s been very straightforward this year and the races have come for him at the right time. There was no pace today and I said to Ben to let him roll along. He’s a leader, he leads the strong at home.

“It’s great for a syndicate to rock up on Derby weekend and be competitive in a very competitive Group 3. You can see the enjoyment it gives people, racing has that.”

The Kildare Village Ladies Derby Handicap was an intriguing contest due to the spread of riders involved but it featured a clear-cut winner in Tom Gibney’s Alanya (40/1), who scored by four and three quarter lengths under Amy Jo Hayes.

The four-year-old was recruited from France by owner Kevin Haigney and pleasantly surprised her connections here, with Gibney suggesting afterwards that he thought she would come on for what was her first start in 475 days.

She raced prominently for Hayes, and once she got to the front late on, just went further clear. She scored off a mark of 77, so attaining blacktype looks a realistic target for her now.

MATRIKA (2/5 favourite) ran a fine race to finish second to Porta Fortuna in the Albany and was turned out just eight days later to return to winning ways with a comfortable success in the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes for Aidan O’Brien, Ryan Moore and the Coolmore partners.

Given she had beaten two of her main rivals here in her maiden over the same distance - Gunzburg and Grand Job - this looked a good opportunity, and it was probably made easier when the field split into two shortly after the stalls. She led a near side group of four, kicked clear of them just after the two-furlong marker and stayed on strongly to maintain a healthy advantage over Gunzburg in second.

Michael O’Callaghan’s Ashwiyaa came through for third, with Do It With Style faring best of the three on the far side to take fourth, well ahead of Grand Job.

“She has a great constitution and we were very happy with her,” said O’Brien. “The first day she ran we were surprised because she’s very lazy at home, we didn’t really know what to expect but she won. Then she went to Ascot and ran a lovely race, but was a little green and babyish. Obviously she learned plenty from it again.

“She came out of the race, lost no weight. She doesn’t blow at all, it takes nothing out of her – she’s very natural. Ryan gave her a lovely ride.

“I don’t want to be too easy on her because she has a big backside on her and I don’t want her to get too big. We’ll have to keep her going to a point.

“She’s a Group 2 winner now and there are probably not too many places we’ll be able to go with her. You’d be hoping she’s going to be a Cheveley Park filly.”

Earlier, O’Brien and Moore combined to win the opening Barronstown Stud Irish EBF Maiden with City Of Troy (6/4 favourite).

The Justify colt disputed the lead with Instant Appeal and Huxley for much of the seven-furlong trip and picked up well to shrug off the challenge of that pair just before the furlong pole. Galen, ridden with more restraint, came through for second, but never troubled the winner, who impressed his rider and trainer in the manner of his victory.

“Ryan was delighted with him,” O’Brien said. “He said he was very frightened going past the winning post, he said it’s the first time he’s ever rode a two-year-old that he thought wasn’t going to pull up.

“He has a big long stride and he’s relentless really, I’m delighted with him. He has great presence. We had his brother last year, Bertinelli, and he was a very big horse who we thought was going to be a three or four-year-old but this horse is made like a two or three-year-old.”

A FINE day turned into a brilliant day for Meath trainer Matthew Smith, who sent out La Hacienda to win the Northumberland Vase in Newcastle and rounded off proceedings in the Curragh when his Dartan (12/1) held on to win the DMG Media Irish EBF Handicap.

The Killian McDonnell-owned six-year-old was always well positioned by Declan McDonogh, racing prominently off a moderate pace. He took it up on the inside all of three furlongs from home, but built up a good advantage, too much to be pegged back by the fast finishing Extensio down the outside.

“I’m delighted, it’s been a great day,” Smith said. “I was a bit disappointed with him in Fairyhouse the last day but in hindsight they didn’t go much of a gallop and it turned into a sprint.

“He had some good form last year but had a bit of a setback so we let him off for the rest of the summer. I had faith in him and knew he was good enough to win. I told Declan to make plenty of use of him and he gave him a great ride.”

The Ornella Underwriting Ltd Bloodstock & Equine Insurance Irish EBF Median Auction Maiden featured a ready winner in Pink Sorrel (11/1), who continued a fine first half of the season for both Joe Murphy and Gary Carroll.

The Crampcastle Bloodstock-owned Zoffany filly failed to fire on her comeback run in a Naas maiden, but was a good winner here, always travelling well for Carroll. She took it up inside the final furlong and went right away from Parish Age for a three-and-a-half lengths success.

Murphy was delighted with the performance after the race and strongly expected more improvement to come from her.

Coumshinghan (9/2 favourite) made it back-to-back wins in the six-furlong Sherry Fitzgerald Country Homes Handicap for Kevin Coleman.

The Fastnet Rock filly had run well in defeat on each of her last three starts and found herself 7lbs lower than she was 12 months ago. She took advantage of that, but only just, with Nathan Crosse all out on her to get the better of a four-way go to the line. In the end, she had just a nose to spare over Dandyville.

Coleman trains the filly for his wife Eileen and said: “We fancied her, she works very well at home, the horses are running well and we got a bit of rain during the week. She just held on and it’s great.

1. Boughey ends a rough week in best possible way

George Boughey ended a rough week in the best possible way by securing his second Group 1 success with Via Sistina in the Pretty Polly Stakes.

The Newmarket-based trainer has made serious strides forward at the age of just 30 but that progression took a sizeable hit when owner Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah took away his 12 horses last week, which included the high profile juvenile Asadna, citing a lack of openness.

Perhaps there was a breakdown in communication that Boughey has had to pay heavily for, we don’t know, but Via Sistina was a superbly timed reminder of her trainer’s talents. She joined Boughey as a 97-rated filly, but has now gone three wins from four starts, and holds a rating of 115.

Given her lightly-raced profile, she could well improve again and looks set to be a player in any of the Group 1s for fillies and mares this season, with owner Stephen Hillen, confident she could do anything from a mile to 12 furlongs.

2. Mashhoor may not be done

What a season for the Johnny Murtagh-trained, Brunabonne Syndicate-owned Mashhoor who streaked away with the Group 3 International Stakes to make it three wins from his last three starts.

It’s easy to pick holes in the form given he got his own way in front and the pair in behind him, favourite Al Riffa and Alfred Munnings were both making their seasonal debut.

However, the time of the race was good, just over a second slower than the time Via Sistina clocked in the Pretty Polly, and Mashhoor had to do all his own running, while you can also account for Al Riffa, last year’s National Stakes winner and holding a rating of 114, for being well backed on the day, signifying a degree of confidence in his chances.

Mashhoor beat him comfortably and now that it is established that these type of tactics are effective for him, perhaps connections will use them again going forward. He remains a lightly-raced horse with scope to improve again and may well be able to take his chance in a Group 1 at some stage.

3. Murphy continues fine run

Today’s Big Interview subject Gary Carroll has a strong link to the Joe Murphy yard, having teamed up with the Tipperary trainer for success on numerous occasions down the years. Interestingly, Carroll told of how Murphy refrubished his gallop in the off season, which may well be contributing to his fine results so far this term.

Pink Sorrel, ridden by Carroll, was the trainer’s ninth win of the year from just 48 runs - a 19% strike rate. Just four more winners will have him equal his tally from last year and he has a very reasonable chance to break his own personal record of 19 winners in a season.

All of his other horses over the weekend ran well and Pink Sorrel may well be able to add more wins down the line, having taken her mile maiden in fine style.