Performance Review
July 2018
THE highlight of the season so far is Mary Tudor’s fantastic performance in the Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh. To have a horse good enough to run in a Classic and be competitive is what every flat trainer wants and she repaid our faith and belief that she was up to that level with her brilliant third place.
Mary Tudor in the Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh
Godolphin sponsors the Irish Oaks and to have a homebred filly from one of their best families – of their top sires Street Cry and Shamardal – run so well and be placed for them is very important and a huge thrill for all of the team here at Rathbride Stables.
She was beaten less than two lengths by a good filly in Sea Of Class and the Epsom Oaks winner Forever Together so the form is top class. It was a great performance on ground that would probably have been faster than she would prefer and I think that a bit of ease in the ground would suit her better. She has come out of the race well and seems in good form so it’s all systems go for Irish Champions’ Weekend and possibly the Group 2 Moyglare Jewels Blandford Stakes back at the Curragh.
Bloomfield’s two listed wins at the start of the season were a great way to kick things off for us and she is a tough, filly who just hasn’t got her ground because of the dry weather for most of the summer.
Midway through the season we are in seventh place overall in the trainers’ championship with 17 winners. As well as that, we have 53 placed finishes so far this season. I’d like the winners column to read a bit higher and hopefully the second half of the season will see us have more visits to the winners’ enclosure. For the last five seasons we have trained at least 20 winners every season and the ambition this year is to make that six in a row and add more Group winners.
There is a lovely bunch of two-year-olds in the yard, and more juvenile colts than in recent years. It’s exciting to see this batch of two-year-olds come to hand and plan their racing debuts. Some of them will be out in the next few weeks and we are really looking forward to seeing what they can do.