Exciting Wootton Bassett Juvenile Gets Off The Mark In Group 2
Beautify (2f Wootton Bassett – Words, by Dansili) showed her class when making all to win Saturday’s Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes at the Curragh, completing the second leg of a treble on the card for Ballydoyle, Ryan Moore and Wootton Bassett.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained filly finished a promising third over course and distance on debut, a performance which was upgraded when the winner subsequently placed in the Albany Stakes. Stepping up significantly in class on her second start, Beautify was sent off second favourite to the previously unbeaten dual Stakes winner Lady Iman. Ryan Moore asked the bay to quicken when the favourite loomed alongside two furlongs out and was asked for more a furlong later. She asserted in the final 110 yards and kept on to score by two lengths.
“Ryan gave Beautify a lovely ride,” O’Brien said after the race. “She had a lovely run first time and she has come forward since then. It was always the plan to come here following her maiden run. It is a very good important race at a great track. It is a very important race for a filly.
“Ryan was very impressed and he said he would love to go up to seven furlongs with her so that is a very good sign when you hear him talking like that. She obviously gets six very strongly and travels very strongly. Ryan said she really got going inside the final furlong so it is great to hear that
“Wootton Bassett is an incredible stallion, the speed that they have and they stay as well which is incredible.”
The Coolmore homebred is a half-sister to Listed winner and Irish Oaks third Library (Galileo). She was completing a quickfire double on the card for her sire and Ballydoyle, after Dorset (2c Wootton Bassett – Snowflakes, by Galileo) landed the opening seven-furlong maiden.
Owned by Coolmore partners with Westerberg, the Aidan O’Brien-trained colt chased home stablemate Amadeus Mozart (Wootton Bassett) over course and distance on debut, and was sent off favourite to go one better under Ryan Moore. The grey made all the running and was pushed along from two furlongs out. Ridden after entering the final furlong, he ran on to beat stablemate Benvenuto Cellini by a length and a half, with another two and three quarter lengths back to the third.
“Dorset is a straightforward, lovely horse who came forward and he will get further,” O’Brien reported. “He’s obviously a Group horse and he’ll be very comfortable when he goes up to a mile. He could go to the Tyros, the Futurity or he could go for the Pat Smullen race (Listed race at Naas in July) — that’s up to a mile.”