'She got me out of a hole' - Fairy Godmother answers Ryan Moore's prayers for an unlikely Albany success

Ryan Moore appeared to be in an almost hopeless position on Fairy Godmother at one point but his mount delivered a potent late charge to land the most unlikely of victories.

An 84th Royal Ascot success and fifth victory of the meeting looked unlikely for the jockey as he was denied racing room towards the centre of the track when attempting to launch a challenge from the rear of the field. 

The doors continued to close as Fairy Godmother's stablemate Heavens Gate struck for home under Wayne Lordan, but the 13-8 favourite showed her superiority once switched to the near side of the track.

She flashed past Heavens Gate and Simmering in several bounds to deny the famous Sangster silks a second juvenile success of the week after Rashabar's 80-1 Coventry strike on Tuesday.

The ultimately cosy three-quarter length success gave Coolmore and Ballydoyle their first two-year-old winner of the week.

“I gave her an impossible task and she got me out of a hole,” Moore said. “I kind of wanted to be towards the stands’ side a little bit, the fancied horses were there, but we didn’t go mad.

“There was a wall of horses in front of me and around me and it’s incredible that she was able to win from that position. All credit to her, she’s a very good filly.”

Fairy Godmother became the third Albany winner in as many years to win the same Group 3 at Naas following the successes of Meditate and Porta Fortuna and Moore confirmed the filly had long been regarded as special, a reputation which saw her sent off at odds-on for a maiden in April.

Fairy Godmother: gets up late under Ryan MooreCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

“Down at the start she looked different class," he said. "She suggested that before she ran and when she won the last time. Today, that was a big performance.”

Bookmakers reacted by cutting her to 5-1 favourite (from 12) to give her trainer Aidan O'Brien an eighth success in the 1,000 Guineas and, although an Albany winner has yet to win a British Classic, her rider believes she has the attributes needed to excel over longer distances. 

“Oh yeah,” he replied when asked if he expected her to make up into a Guineas contender. “After she won the last day I thought she would be a Moyglare filly.”

That race has a far better honour roll, with O'Brien stars Minding and Love taking the race in their juvenile seasons prior to becoming the best of their generation the following summer. Both fillies went on to win the Guineas and Oaks, and similar targets will already be on the minds of connections after such an unlikely success.

"She’s an incredible filly," O'Brien said. "What she was doing at home – that’s why Sue [Magnier, owner] called her Fairy Godmother. The lads loved her at the sales. Everything she’s done has always been very different, her work has always been very special.

“Ryan was unbelievably patient with her. He snuck across and he went into a gap that wasn’t there, he came back and went into another gap that wasn’t there, and he came back again and went again, but he never took anything out of her. It was incredible, masterful stuff."

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