Empress Josephine (Ire) | Horse Racing Free Tips

Daughter of Alice Springs Starts in Key Maiden

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Sunday's Observations features the third foal out of three-time Group 1 heroine Alice Springs (Ire).

13.25 Naas, Mdn, €16,000, 3yo f, 8fT
FLEETINGLY (Justify) is the third foal out of the G1 Falmouth S., G1 Matron S. and G1 Sun Chariot S. heroine Alice Springs (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who has already produced the group 3-placed Prettiest (Dubawi {Ire}) and Canute (Quality Road) who looked a promising type last term before being fatally injured at Royal Ascot. Aidan O'Brien introduces her in a 10-runner affair in the race he has won in the last three years with Galileo's future Classic winners Empress Josephine (Ire) and Tuesday (Ire) and group 3 winner and G1 Prix de l'Opera runner-up Jackie Oh (Ire).

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Audarya Primed for Nassau Bid

With the major contests going the way of the 3-year-olds so far, it is up to Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) to attempt to bring that generation back into line a touch in Thursday's G1 Qatar Nassau S. at Goodwood. Improving markedly at this stage last term, Alison Swinburn's 5-year-old captured the G1 Prix Jean Romanet on soft ground at Deauville in August, was third to Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G1 Prix de l'Opera on heavy at ParisLongchamp in October before capturing the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf on firm going at Keeneland in November. Giving Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) a scare when 3/4-of-a-length second to that luminary in the G1 Prince of Wales's S. at Royal Ascot June 16, she sets a clear standard on that form. “Audarya ran really well at Royal Ascot and she's come out of the race in good form,” trainer James Fanshawe said.

“Six weeks is a nice gap between races when you are taking things step by step and we've had this race in mind for a while. She's got better as she's got older and she's doing everything right at home. It was fast ground at Keeneland and Royal Ascot, but she shouldn't have any problem on easier going because it was very testing last year when she won the Romanet and very soft when she ran so well in the Prix de l'Opera.”

Also flying the flag for the older fillies and mares is Lady Bowthorpe (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who like Audarya has gone from strength to strength since last summer and seeks a first top-level success after two fine efforts at this level in 2021. Runner-up to Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the G1 Lockinge S. at Newbury May 15 and fourth when suffering a troubled trip in the G1 Falmouth S. at Newmarket July 9, she tries this 10-furlong trip for the first time having won over nine in the May 2 G2 Dahlia S. at Newmarket. “She's grown up as a 5-year-old mare and she's much more amenable now,” trainer William Jarvis said. “As a 3 and 4-year-old, we thought she was very much a soft-ground filly but her run in both the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket and more recently in the Falmouth Stakes were on good-to-firm ground and I think she's pretty adaptable. She was very tired when she came out of the Lockinge Stakes, but we had a very good preparation between Ascot and Newmarket and she's really been pleasing me since the Falmouth.”

Aidan O'Brien puts forward two high-achieving 3-year-olds in the June 20 G1 Prix de Diane winner Joan of Arc (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Empress Josephine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who beat her stablemate in the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas at The Curragh May 23. “We are lucky to have some great fillies and we try to keep them apart and give them their best chance by picking the races which will suit them best, but we have been aiming both of these fillies for this race,” he said. “Joan of Arc won the Prix de Diane and has been progressing lovely all season. Empress Josephine will be stepping up to a mile and a quarter. We went further with her in Gowran before she won the Guineas and then went back in trip. She's a full-sister to Minding, who got a mile and a quarter and got a mile and a half. It's possible she could leave that Gowran run behind her and get the trip, but she is a filly that's got plenty of speed.”

Shadwell's Zeyaadah (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) beat Mantonbury Stud's Technique (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) by a cosy head margin in the G3 Hoppings Fillies' S. over this trip at Newcastle June 25 and the former's trainer Roger Varian is hoping the ground continues to dry. “She'll need to step up on the Newcastle form to win a Nassau, but while she only won a head she was in command at the line there. Bar the Oaks, she's done nothing wrong in her career. There was only one winner that day and the rest were nowhere. I think she's a 10-furlong filly and I also think she's a better-ground filly now she's going up against better horses, although she's got soft-ground form. She's in good form and I think she's ready for this test.”

In the G2 Unibet Richmond S. for the 2-year-olds, Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's June 17 G2 Norfolk S. winner Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) bids to defy a penalty moving up from five to six furlongs. His defeat of Go Bears Go (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}) was made to look even better after the runner-up captured the G2 Railway S. and there is no reason on pedigree and racing style that he will not be at least as effective over this trip. “He has a three-pound penalty for his Royal Ascot win, which is always tough but the horse is in great order,” trainer Richard Fahey commented. “The ground is drying up and should be beautiful by the Richmond Stakes, possibly just on the dead side but he should handle that. I have no worries about going up to six furlongs, in fact I think he'll be better for it.” Leora Judah's Asymmetric (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) looks to add to Alan King's week to remember and has sound claims based on his second to Lusail (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) in the G2 July S. at Newmarket July 8, while Jassim bin Ali Al Attiyah's July 17 Weatherbys Super Sprint winner Gubbass (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) represents the Richard Hannon stable.

In the G3 John Pearce Racing Gordon S., the June 26 G1 Irish Derby third and July 14 G1 Grand Prix de Paris runner-up Wordsworth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) takes the next step towards a G1 St Leger bid. He is joined by stablemate Sir Lucan (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who beat him in the 13-furlong Listed Yeats S. at Navan May 15 but has been absent since. “I don't think you can readily rule out any of these, so it's a competitive group 3, albeit one lacking a stand-out,” Wordsworth's rider Ryan Moore commented. “That said, I think my mount Wordsworth is the one to beat in here, even if Sir Lucan got the better of him the last time they met at Navan back in May. Wordsworth has clearly improved since then, being placed in group 1 company on his last two starts and his Grand Prix de Paris second last time came in testing ground.”

Ballydoyle's duo encounter stiff opposition headed by Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's Third Realm (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), who beat Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the May 8 Listed Lingfield Derby Trial before disappointing when over 11-lengths fifth behind that peer in the June 5 G1 Epsom Derby. Also down the field in the blue riband was Ahmad Al Shaikh's May 5 G3 Chester Vase winner Youth Spirit (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), while Godolphin's Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is another intriguing candidate having returned to form when capturing the 13-furlong G3 Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket July 8.

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O’Brien Gives Update on Goodwood Team

Aidan O'Brien will send a strong Ballydoyle challenge to the Qatar Goodwood Festival next week, and has a trio of colts ready to step forward in the G1 Qatar Sussex S.-Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), Order Of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and Battleground (War Front). Runner-up in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot, the MG1SP Lope Y Fernandez won the Listed Heritage S. at Leopardstown in April. GI Breeders' Cup Mile hero Order Of Australia was last seen in action taking the G2 Minstrel S. at The Curragh on July 18 and Battleground, a Group 2 winner, exits the G1 Prix Jean Prat on July 11 with a ninth-place run.

O'Brien said of the Coolmore partners' runners, “Order Of Australia has come out of the race [on Sunday] well. He cantered today and yesterday and he's very well. It's very possible that he could go. Obviously when he only ran at the weekend, we'd like to get him back in full work for four or five days and do the right thing for the horse.

“We have the choice of running here or going to the Lennox S., but at the moment we're thinking of the Sussex. He worked this morning and we were very happy with him.”

He added of Battleground, “He ran a very big race in Ascot. He was a little bit disappointing the last day, but he was drawn out on a wing and he's a horse that likes to get cover.

“We've been very happy with him since and we think Goodwood will suit him–we think he'll leave that run behind him and come right back to his Ascot run and better. It's very possible that he could go to the Sussex as well.”

The G1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup S. could also feature three from Rosegreen, with 2020 G1 Derby hero Serpentine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), 2020 G1 Irish Derby victor Santiago (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) and June 27 G2 Comer Group International Curragh Cup winner Amhran Na Bhfiann (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) all likely to start.

“We think coming back to two miles will help Santiago and Amhran Na Bhfiann the same,” said O'Brien. “There's a chance that Serpentine will run as well. We were thinking two of the three, we just haven't decided yet which two.”

O'Brien's G1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas one-two Empress Josephine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire} and Joan Of Arc (Ire) (Galile {Ire}), who subsequently won the G1 Prix de Diane, both hold an entry in the G1 Qatar Nassau S.

“The two fillies we were training for it [the Nassau] are Joan Of Arc, who won the Diane, and Empress Josephine,” said O'Brien. “Joan Of Arc has been progressing lovely all season and we've been looking at this with her for a good while. Empress Josephine could step up to a mile and a quarter to run [in] it as well. That's not definite, but it's very possible.”

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Ballydoyle and Galileo One Two In the Irish 1000 As Empress Josephine Collects

Jim Bolger had been at it on Saturday, but 24 hours later it was his former prodigy Aidan O'Brien who was filling the first two places in a Curragh Classic as Empress Josephine (Ire) narrowly denied Joan of Arc (Ire) in the G1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas for another Galileo (Ire) forecast. Runner-up in Gowran Park's Listed Victor McCalmont Memorial S. over an extended nine furlongs last time May 5, the winner who is a full-sister to Minding (Ire) was anchored towards the rear early by Seamie Heffernan and travelled strongly at halfway looming wide. Ryan Moore looked to have the race in the bag as Joan of Arc edged ahead of the long-time leader No Speak Alexander (Ire) (Shalaa {Ire}) in the closing stages, but Heffernan was getting a real tune out of Empress Josephine and the 14-1 shot rattled home to deny her stablemate on the nod by a short head. No Speak Alexander ended up a length away in third, with the 15-8 favourite Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}) only seventh. “The only surprise for me was that she was beaten the last twice,” Heffernan said after registering a fifth win in this Classic. “I had a willing partner. She has a bit of class and it's a pleasure to be on the team riding good horses.”

Introduced over this trip at Naas Mar. 28, Empress Josephine opened her account with the promise of more to come and it was Aidan O'Brien's publicly-stated opinion that she had gone off too fast when attempting to dominate the seven-furlong G3 Ballylinch Stud 1000 Guineas Trial S. at Leopardstown Apr. 11. Fading to 10th there as the marginally-less aggressively-ridden Joan of Arc wound up sixth, the homebred was given time to get over that experience and got back on track with a second to the year-older Too Soon To Panic (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) at Gowran Park. With her dam having been fifth in a blanket finish to this in 2010 and her illustrious full-sibling denied by a head by Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) in 2016, there was a score to settle and Empress Josephine adopted the family's trademark acceleration to do just that. Making up three lengths in the space of a furlong to get up on the line, this could only be viewed as an impressive success in a slowly-run Classic.

“She hadn't run as a 2-year-old, but she wasn't ready to go then and that was just the way it was with her in terms of phsyical strength,” Heffernan added. “She won snug with me at Naas in slow ground and last time Wayne [Lordan] said that she was still a little bit weak for the staying mile-and-a-furlong for the moment. He said that back at a mile she could travel a bit stronger. I wanted to follow Joseph's horse [Pretty Gorgeous] here every step of the way, but that filly actually got bumped and she in turn bumped me which knocked her off balance for a few strides. I was a lucky winner, but I should have won well. At the moment, she probably won't get a mile and a half for another couple of months, but she could if she gets more relaxed.”

Aidan O'Brien was winning the race for the 10th time and said, “We thought she was lovely the first day and then at Leopardstown all the leaders went too fast over seven. We then ran her over nine furlongs in Gowran, a lovely run but we thought nine may have just caught her out. She's able to quicken and Seamus gave her a lovely ride. She's very classy. She might go for the [June 18 G1] Coronation Stakes, but we'll see what the lads want to do. She's a sister to Minding and the second filly is a sister to Gleneagles. We were going to step Joan of Arc up to ten furlongs after today and she might go for the French Oaks [G1 Prix de Diane].”

Joseph O'Brien was far from downcast about the effort of Pretty Gorgeous and said, “I'm happy with the run, as it's not ideal to come here on heavy ground after a long lay-off. I would have loved to get a run into her, but she travelled very well throughout the race and was only beaten about three lengths. We look forward to the rest of the season with her and Royal Ascot looks like the logical place to go.”

Empress Josephine's dam Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), who went on to take the G1 Coronation S. and G1 Matron S. following her near-miss in this Classic, is even better known as the dam of the aforementioned seven-times group 1-winning 1000 Guineas and Epsom Oaks heroine Minding. Also responsible for the G3 1000 Guineas Trial winner Kissed By Angels (Ire) also by Galileo, she is kin to the Listed Celebration S. winner and G3 Gallinule S. third Count of Limonade (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}) and the Listed Dahlia S. winner and GIII Autumn Miss S. runner-up Danilovna (Ire) (Dansili {GB}). From the family of the group-winning sires Great Commotion and Lead On Time, she also has an as-yet unraced 2-year-old full-sister to Empress Josephine named Bubbling (Ire) and a yearling full-sister.

Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
TATTERSALLS IRISH 1,000 GUINEAS-G1, €400,000, Curragh, 5-23, 3yo, f, 8fT, 1:47.92, hy.
1–EMPRESS JOSEPHINE (IRE), 128, f, 3, by Galileo (Ire)
1st Dam: Lillie Langtry (Ire) (Hwt. 3yo Filly-Eng at 7-9 1/2f, G1SW-Ire, G1SW-Eng, $1,361,940), by Danehill Dancer (Ire)
2nd Dam: Hoity Toity (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
3rd Dam: Hiwaayati (GB), by Shadeed
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN, 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Seamie Heffernan. €232,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-0, $303,158. *Full to Minding (IRE), Hwt. 3yo-Eng at 7-9 1/2f, Hwt. 3yo-Ire at 7-9 1/2f, Hwt. 2yo Filly-Eur, Hwt. Older Mare-Ire at 9 1/2-11f, Hwt. 2yo Filly-Ire, Hwt. Older Mare-Eur at 9 1/2-11f, Hwt. 3yo-Eur at 7-9 1/2f, MG1SW-Eng, MG1SW-Ire, $3,213,340; Full to Kissed By Angels (Ire), GSW-Ire. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Joan of Arc (Ire), 128, f, 3, Galileo (Ire)–You'resothrilling, by Storm Cat. O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €80,000.
3–No Speak Alexander (Ire), 128, f, 3, Shalaa (Ire)–Rapacity Alexander (Ire) (SW-Fr), by Dandy Man (Ire). (€190,000 RNA Ylg '19 GOFOR). O-Charles O'Callaghan, Noel O'Callaghan & Paul O'Callaghan; B-Mount Armstrong Stud (IRE); T-Jessica Harrington. €40,000.
Margins: NO, 1, NO. Odds: 14.00, 4.50, 6.50.
Also Ran: Belle Image (Ire), Fantasy Lady (Ire), Friendly (Ire), Pretty Gorgeous (Fr), Sense of Style (Ire), Thinking of You, Fev Rover (Ire), Sweet Gardenia (GB), Sziget (Ire), Miss Amulet (Ire), Zaffy's Pride (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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