G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas | Horse Racing Free Tips

Inspiral Thriving Through the Winter

Cartier Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who is unbeaten in four starts to date, is in good form according to Cheveley Park Stud Director Richard Thompson. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the bay won at first asking at Newmarket in June, and added another victory to her win column in the Listed Star S. at Sandown on July 22. Jumping up to group company on Sept. 9, Inspiral added the G2 May Hill S. before signing off on her 2-year-old campaign with a 2 1/2-length win in the G1 Fillies' Mile back at HQ on Oct. 8. A run in the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas is on her radar on May 1.

“Inspiral is in good form and it's just a question of whether she goes straight to the Guineas or goes for one of the trials beforehand,” Thompson said. “That is obviously still up in the air, but at the moment all is good and it's all positive, I believe.

“We're on countdown to the Guineas now. It will be totally down to John and Thady to decide what is the best route to take.”

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1000 Guineas Glory For Zoffany’s Mother Earth

In a renewal of Newmarket's G1 Qipco 1000 Guineas which polarised the dreamers and the cynics, experience ultimately told on Sunday with Frankie Dettori the chief benefactor as he steered Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) to glory. Whereas Ballydoyle's Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) had created all the electricity in the build-up to a Classic which lost some key cast members along the way, it was the stable's hard-working journeywoman who nestled under the radar and emerged clear-best to uphold the prime formlines of 2020. Successful in the G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies' Sprint S. and third in the course-and-distance G1 Fillies' Mile before ending up second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Derrick Smith's colour-bearer was an over-generous 10-1 shot boasting the second-highest official rating in this field. Switched off towards the rear early racing on the far side, the bay arrived full of running out wide to take the lead 1 1/2 furlongs from the finish as Santa Barbara had an understandable moment of greenness. As the field drove to the line spread across the track, Mother Earth was already gone beyond recall to give O'Brien a seventh renewal and fifth since 2016. A length second was Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), who denied Fev Rover (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) by a neck with the 5-2 joint-favourite Santa Barbara nosed out in fourth.

A fourth 1000 Guineas for Dettori means that between the winning riders of the two weekend Classics there is a grand total of 104 years. Like Saturday's hero Kevin Manning, Frankie has a wealth of experience which is invaluable in these clashes and he was in typically ebullient form as he celebrated his 20th Classic victory. “Come on the oldies. We can still do it!” he said. “Aidan gave me a lot of confidence. I rode her cold, followed Ryan and kicked at the top of the hill. I knew she'd get home and I was able to enjoy it. I think she'll get a mile and a quarter. She's very easy to handle and she's very brave. She's not very big, but she's got a big engine.”

Introduced as soon as the Irish flat season resumed after the lockdown last June, Mother Earth was second to the precocious Frenetic (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) over an extended five furlongs at Navan before finishing a distant third in the G3 Albany S. nine days later at Royal Ascot. Backed up quickly when a four-length winner of the Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies' Sprint over the same six-furlong trip at Naas, she looked in need of further when third behind Aloha Star (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) and old rival Frenetic in The Curragh's G2 Airlie Stud S. Her subsequent performance when third behind TDN Rising Star Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}) in the G2 Debutante S. again at The Curragh in August suggested that even seven furlongs was insufficient, but when Seamie Heffernan attempted to employ her stamina from the front in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. the plan backfired and she faded to 11th.

In a now-notorious error, Mother Earth was third in the Fillies' Mile where her number cloth was mixed up with stablemate Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) but after all the focus on that mistake had died away her performance when chasing home Pretty Gorgeous and another TDN Rising Star in Indigo Girl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) was clearly another step up. Very few fillies can start so early and end up running such a strong race in a Breeders' Cup contest, but she proved one of those rarities as she charged late to narrow the winning margin of Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. It was significant that she was chosen to go with Santa Barbara to Newmarket and with Frankie boasting such a fine strike-rate for the stable ultimately no surprise that she came through for a stable that now focuses intently on this Classic and its fillies in general.

“The fillies live close to each other and everyone was delighted with both of them,” O'Brien said. “The race went lovely and we were delighted with Santa Barbara–we got a great run out of her and she'll head for the [June 4 G1 Epsom] Oaks now with Mother Earth going for the [G1] Irish 1000 Guineas [at The Curragh May 23]. Going into the dip on fast ground, it wouldn't surprise you that Santa Barbara was green but she would have learnt a lot. She's an unbelievably beautiful big, powerful filly with everything in the right place. Mother Earth is a very good filly, always was, and she put her head down and ran to the line. She is very tough and very genuine and obviously Zoffany is a big loss.”

“It was unfair to Santa Barbara to come, but we had to with a view to coming back for the Oaks,” O'Brien continued. “Ryan said he would have liked to have waited longer, but he saw Frankie coming on his outside and he had to go. We never took her off the bridle at home–today was her first time. Hopefully she'll come out of it okay and it will do her good. We were never going to over-race her and wanted to limit the amount of times she ran, with a late-season campaign planned after the Oaks.”

Saffron Beach's trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam said of the runner-up, “It would have been the quickest ground she has been on, but she can handle it because she is versatile as you saw in the Oh So Sharp on good-to-soft and here on the quicker ground. We are just all thrilled and I'm sure the owners are highly delighted. This time last year, she wasn't even in training. She has seen the mile out 100 per cent. I knew she would get the mile and I know she will get a mile and a quarter as well. There is a good one in her.” Richard Fahey had made no secret beforehand of his expectations of Fev Rover and her performance was justification of that. “We were delighted with her–it wasn't a truly-run race really,” her trainer commented. “Paul [Hanagan] felt the ground was a bit quick for her and she just rolled about a bit, but you'd have to be happy with that. She probably will go further in time and a bit of juice in the ground doesn't bother her at all. She's in the Irish Guineas and that was going to be the plan–that or Royal Ascot.”

On a weekend where Jim Bolger has been omnipresent where it mattered, it was the master of Coolcullen who initially campaigned the dam Many Colours (GB) (Green Desert) and drew from her a win in the Listed Dance Design S. and second in the G3 Denny Cordell & Lanwades Stud Fillies S. before she switched to Saeed bin Suroor. It took her a while to produce a black-type performer, but 12 years after her own exploits in that sphere she had the G2 Premio Dormello winner Night Colours (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) in October 2019. Earlier that month, Mother Earth had been a relatively cheap €150,000 purchase by M V Magnier at the Goffs Orby in what would amount to yet another piece of prescience from Coolmore. Many Colours's latest produce are a yearling filly by Sioux Nation and a colt foal by Zoffany.

Mother Earth becomes the first Classic winner for her sire, who was taken from the industry all too soon given his recent rise to prominence. Many Colours was the leading performer for First of Many (GB) (Darshaan {GB}), in turn a full-sister to the G3 Lillie Langtry S. runner-up Without a Trace (Ire) and a half to the Listed Marygate S. winner Patience Alexander (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) who was also third in the Albany. She is connected to the G3 Anglesey S. and G3 Molecomb S. winner Lady Alexander (Ire) (Night Shift), dam of the G3 Palace House S.-winning successful sire Dandy Man (Ire) (Mozart {Ire}) and to Anthem Alexander (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) who took the G2 Queen Mary S. and was placed in the G1 Cheveley Park S. and G1 Commonwealth Cup.

Sunday, Newmarket, Britain
QIPCO 1000 GUINEAS S.-G1, £375,000, Newmarket, 5-2, 3yo, f, 8fT, 1:36.37, g/f.
1–MOTHER EARTH (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Zoffany (Ire)
1st Dam: Many Colours (GB) (SW & GSP-Ire, MSP-UAE, $276,926), by Green Desert
2nd Dam: First of Many (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
3rd Dam: Star Profile (Ire), by Sadler's Wells
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (€150,000 Ylg '19 GOFOR). O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Grenane House Stud (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Frankie Dettori. £212,663. Lifetime Record: GSW-Ire & GISP-US, 9-2-2-4, $590,961. *1/2 to Night Colours (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}), GSW-Ity, $139,607. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Saffron Beach (Ire), 126, f, 3, New Bay (GB)–Falling Petals (Ire), by Raven's Pass. (55,000gns Wlg '18 TATFOA). O-Mrs B V Sangster, J Wigan & O Sangster; B-China Horse Club International Ltd (IRE); T-Jane Chapple-Hyam. £80,625.
3–Fev Rover (Ire), 126, f, 3, Gutaifan (Ire)–Laurelita (Ire), by High Chaparral (Ire). (£20,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR). O-Nick Bradley Racing 43 & Partner; B-Manister House Stud (IRE); T-Richard Fahey. £40,350.
Margins: 1, NK, NO. Odds: 10.00, 9.00, 22.00.
Also Ran: Santa Barbara (Ire), Alcohol Free (Ire), Vadream (GB), Sacred (GB), Statement (Ire), Star of Emaraaty (Ire), Seattle Rock (GB), Thunder Beauty (Ire). Scratched: Lullaby Moon (GB). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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The Santa Barbara Effect

There are many things that Aidan O'Brien has managed to do in his 25-year tenure at Ballydoyle, but winning a G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas with a once-raced maiden winner would be something else despite all the raging excitement surrounding 'TDN Rising Star Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). Even the 2009 heroine Ghanaati (Giant's Causeway), whose son Mutasaabeq (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) was such a key member of the 2000 cast on Saturday, came to Newmarket with two starts behind her so we are in to the realms of the unusual here. Allowing for all the promise of her debut win over this trip at The Curragh in September and the glowing reports from her normally reticent trainer, she will be operating at cramped odds even if Sunday's renewal looks short on strength in depth now that Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}) is missing. Connections and supporters alike will be hoping that inherent ability will overcome lack of race-hardening, but such an outcome is a rarity in the English Classics with exceptions like Morston (Fr) in the 1973 Epsom Derby few and far between.

O'Brien is aware of the task at hand and it is significant that the team have resisted unveiling the half-sister to the Breeders' Cup-winning Order of Australia (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and Iridessa (Ire) (Ruler of the World {Ire}) in public in 2021 until this moment. “It is only her second run and she'll be running down Newmarket on quickish ground. She will be green, so it will be interesting to see how she copes with it,” he said. “Either way you'd imagine she'll learn a lot from it and it will do her absolutely no harm.” Re-affirming the huge regard in which she is held, he added ominously for the opposition, “She always looked very special last year. Of all the two-year-old fillies, she was always at the top of the pecking order and on her home work she was always very impressive and very exceptional.”

“She's a very strong traveller and a big, powerful filly–through her work and through a race,” the master of Ballydoyle continued. “If she'd had another run, it might have been an advantage to her, but she's a quick learner at home and very intelligent. No matter what we work her with, she always looks to be dominating them. She doesn't know her odds, she only knows she's getting ready for a race. Everyone will be excited to see what happens when she does come off the bridle. This is a Guineas and it's going to happen at some point.”

Ryan Moore had a note of caution to sound as he pondered the prospect of partnering such a raw filly in a race of this stature. “I would say straight away that I don't think a mile on quick ground is going to see her at her very best on Sunday,” he said. “I expect her to improve through the season as she steps up in trip and her draw in one could make life interesting, but we clearly anticipate her running very well in what maybe isn't the strongest 1000 Guineas we have seen in recent years, especially with Pretty Gorgeous a late withdrawal.”

If Santa Barbara is not all that, this edition has been thrown wide-open with some notable defections of late and it could be that the major seven-furlong trial protagonists can benefit. In the Apr. 14 G3 Nell Gwyn S. here, Cheveley Park Stud's experienced Sacred (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) cut down the previously unbeaten Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) while Jeff Smith's G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) dealt with Statement (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) in Newbury's G3 Fred Darling S. Apr. 18. Both winners were up from sprint trips and that is an angle that has proven successful only rarely in this race down the years, bar the exceptions Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}), Natagora (Fr) (Divine Light {Jpn}) and Special Duty (GB) (Hennessy) in recent times.

Sacred's case of seeing out the trip may be more persuasive than Alcohol Free, with her dam being a half to Lady Eli (Divine Park) but there is no escaping that she is by a speed-influence sire. Jockey Tom Marquand, who did not ride her in the Nell Gwyn, was pleased with what he saw there. “It looked like she had done well for the winter under her belt and that she had grown and strengthened up plenty,” he said. “She relaxed beautifully the other day and that will give her more of a chance of staying the mile, but we won't truly know until the day. She was competitive in every assignment last year and finished second three times at Group 2 level, where she was unlucky one or two times but she has improved even more than we imagined. Most horses that go from two to three disappoint you, but Sacred appears to have done the opposite.” Trainer William Haggas added, “She seems to have made a step forward and if she relaxes and gets into a good rhythm and stays, she's got a chance. She's got quick ground, which is important to her but none of us know what Aidan's is like so we'll see.”

Oisin Murphy resumes his partnership with Alcohol Free and he said, “I rode her on Wednesday when she went four furlongs with Bounce the Blues and she feels very well in herself. She's finally come in her coat, we just need her to stay happy and healthy between now and Sunday. I was pleased with the way she did it at Newbury because I made her come back and wait and go through the gears, whereas over six we just let her roll on. The big question is will she stay and I'm pretty confident she will. She's a jockey's dream in a race, at home she can be a nightmare.”

Saffron Beach has no stamina concerns and this first try at a mile is almost certain to bring out improvement in the G3 Oh So Sharp S. winner despite her family featuring the sprinter Cotai Glory (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) while Ballydoyle's second-string Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) kept upgrading her profile last term. The opposite of her much-vaunted stablemate, she rounded off an industrious campaign with a third in the course-and-distance G1 Fillies' Mile and a runner-up finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and is no back-number on that evidence.

Dahlia Ready For Picking…

Newmarket's card also includes the G2 Betfair Dahlia S., in which last year's runner-up Queen Power (Ire) (Shamardal) is pitched against the Apr. 5 Listed Snowdrop Fillies' S. one-two Lavender's Blue (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) and Fooraat (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Godolphin's 'TDN Rising Star' A'Shaari (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) tackles the Listed Betfair Pretty Polly S., a recognised Oaks trial which has played host to Ouija Board (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), Taghrooda (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) and Talent (GB) (New Approach {Ire}). The full-sister to Wuheida (GB) has contrasting ground to that she encountered when impressing on her sole start on the July Course here in August, but she has to prove her versatility with the Epsom Classic looming.

ParisLongchamp Hosts Ganay Card…

At ParisLongchamp, another major part of the Ballydoyle machine is in action in the G1 Prix Ganay in 'TDN Rising Star' Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who has had a trip to Dubai and run in the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic to sharpen him for his European campaign. A lack of pace might be the sticking point for the G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 Hong Kong Vase hero, who meets Godolphin's still-unexposed 6-year-old Magny Cours (Medaglia d'Oro). He ran with such credit when third in the Mar. 27 G1 Dubai World Cup and represents the Andre Fabre stable which boasts a record six wins in this prestigious affair. Godolphin's Lisa-Jane Graffard said, “Magny Cours appears to have recovered very well from his trip to Dubai. He is a horse who we are hoping to have a bit of fun with this year and we are delighted to see him back running in Europe. He is in good form at the moment and we are hoping for another good performance at this level.”

In the G3 Prix Allez France Longines, Shadwell's Raabihah (Sea the Stars {Ire}) embarks on her 4-year-old campaign having established herself among the elite last term. Fourth in a blanket finish to Chantilly's G1 Prix de Diane and fifth in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe here, the homebred was also second to Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G1 Prix Vermeille over the Arc course and distance and successful in Deauville's G3 Prix de Psyche. All that background gives her a clear gap over her rivals here, with The Aga Khan's G2 Prix de Pomone winner Ebaiyra (Distorted Humor) needing further than this 10-furlong trip.

At Cologne, the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin heroine Noble Heidi (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) is back in the G3 Karin Baronin von Ullmann over a mile where she encounters Jean-Pierre Dubois' exciting Sea Shepherd (Ger) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), an Andreas Wohler-trained half-sister to the G1 Preis der Diana heroine Serienholde (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) who looked to have a bright future when scoring over this trip at Hanover in October.

Click here for the group fields.

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Pretty Gorgeous To Miss 1000 As A Dozen Remain

Joseph O'Brien revealed on Friday morning that John Oxley's 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}) will miss Sunday's G1 Qipco 1000 Guineas due to an unsatisfactory scope. The G1 Fillies' Mile winner's absence is a serious blow to the mile Classic, for which 12 fillies were confirmed headed by fellow 'TDN Rising Star' Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). “It's obviously disappointing and very frustrating for everybody involved, as we were really looking forward to seeing how she would get on in the Guineas,” O'Brien told Racing Post. “However, it's going to be a long season and there are plenty of big races to come later in the year. We were conscious that we had to do the right thing by the filly, but we're still very excited about what she might achieve going forward.”

Santa Barbara, whose sole sighting on a racecourse came when winning a mile median sires series maiden at The Curragh in September, is the mount of Ryan Moore while Frankie Dettori is booked for the fellow Ballydoyle representative Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) who was last seen finishing runner-up in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Santa Barbara has been drawn in stall one on the outside, with her stablemate in two and Jeff Smith's G1 Cheveley Park S. and G3 Fred Darling S. winner Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) on the other side in 11. Cheveley Park Stud's Apr. 14 G3 Nell Gwyn S. winner Sacred (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) will exit from stall nine, alongside the filly she beat in that prep, Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) in 10.

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