Lake Victoria swoops for Moyglare Stud success

Lake Victoria upstaged her better-fancied stablemate Bedtime Story in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh.

Bedtime Story had created a huge impression when winning the Chesham Stakes by nine and a half lengths at Royal Ascot and while her subsequent two wins were more workmanlike, she was the 4-5 favourite to extend her unbeaten record to five.

Ryan Moore set out to make all the running aboard the daughter of Frankel and dual Nunthorpe heroine Mecca’s Angel, but Aidan O’Brien’s youngster was flat out entering the final furlong and her four rivals were queuing up to challenge.

Lake Victoria – also a Frankel filly out of a Group One winner in Quiet Reflection – had looked a smart prospect herself in winning on her course and distance debut before following up in the Group Three Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket last month, and she finished best down the outside of the five-strong field to win going away by a length and a quarter under Wayne Lordan.

Ollie Sangster’s British raider Simmering filled the runner-up spot, just ahead of O’Brien’s apparent third string Exactly in third and Red Letter in fourth. Bedtime Story passed the post last of five.

O’Brien said: “She’s a very good filly. She won here the first day, she got to the front and was very green. Ryan said she got to the front way too early that day, but her pace took her there and she obviously still won.

“She went to Newmarket and Seanie (Levey) won on her and she won very impressively. She’s a very classy filly.

“We thought she would be second to the other filly. Ryan’s filly just hit the gates, he just couldn’t get her back then and that was it. When that happens it’s usually over.

“She’ll be grand too, she’s a little bit like her sister and we’ll just go gentle and slow her down a little bit.

“It’s always a worry after what she did in Ascot that could happen and we took it very gentle the next twice afraid it could happen but it still happened.

“We’ll work another way out just to get her to go to sleep again. Wayne rides her out the whole time and he will do that.

“I’m delighted for Wayne. He’s a great fella and he does a lot of work, day in day out at home.

“He’s a great rider and we’re so lucky to have him here after what happened in the Irish Derby. He went through a tough time for four or five months and nobody deserves it more. He’s a world-class rider.

“It’s a possibility the winner could go to the Cheveley Park. We ran her here with the thought in our head that she could be a Cheveley Park filly.

“We thought she’d be second to the other filly. She’s a very fast filly and that was the plan. We took our time on her, let her relax, and didn’t want to give her a tough race.

“Wayne gave her a brilliant ride. She’s fast, she’s by Frankel but she’s made like a sprinter.”