Love conquers all to give O’Brien a sixth 1,000 Guineas
LOVE, a 4/1 shot, gave Aidan O’Brien a fourth Qipco 1,000 Guineas in five years and a sixth in total when she ran out an impressive winner of the fillies’ Classic under Ryan Moore at Newmarket yesterday.
Never too far off the pace, which was set by the eventual runner-up, Cloak Of Spirits, four fillies emerged from the Dip with winning chances, including the 5/2 favourite Quadrilateral. But it was the whitefaced daughter of Coolmore’s “supersire”, Galileo, which powered though the last furlong to win by four-and-a-half lengths, going away.
Unlike Quadrilateral, which had run only three times and showed her inexperience by running with the choke out, Love, which ran seven times as a juvenile, was far more professional and switched off beautifully in Moore’s hands.
Rising
It was once she hit the rising ground, however, that she started to put clear water between herself and Cloak Of Spirits, which just hung on from Quadrilateral, which stayed on having done too much too soon.
On the back of the victory, Love is now the 7/4 short-priced favourite for the Investec Oaks next month.
Moore, winning the race for the fourth time, said: “She’s very uncomplicated. We always thought a lot of her. She won the Moyglare, we expected her to win the Fillies’ Mile.
“If it wasn’t for her last run we’d have been confident she’d have been the one to beat. I think the ground just blunted her a bit that day. She was in control a long way out and won as she liked. She’s a typical Galileo. She takes her racing well, has a great mind and is tough.”
O’Brien, who landed his 36th British Classic on the eve of Ireland’s resumption of racing at Naas today, was delighted. “She has been doing everything right through the winter and spring,” he said. “We always thought she’d get further than a mile and that, if we started here, we’d go on to the Oaks. Everyone [at home] was sweet on her.”
Meanwhile, the 2,000 Guineas winner Kameko looks almost certain to line up for the Investec Derby, for which he is 3/1 favourite, next.
Qatar Racing’s manager, David Redvers, bought the colt for a snip, $90,000 (£71,000), as a yearling because he wanted something with a similar profile to Qatar’s best horse, Roaring Lion, also by Kitten’s Joy. He improved on the business by purchasing Kameko’s dam, Sweeter Still, back in foal to the same sire.
“My only real reason for not going to Epsom is in case the race left its mark on him,” Redvers said. “It is still the greatest horse race and one Sheikh Fahad wants to win more than any other.”
With Kameko out of the equation, Pinatubo will get the chance to redeem his reputation in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. (© Daily Telegraph, London)