'Her work was out of this world' - Lake Victoria bounces back from Newmarket defeat with emphatic Curragh success

Unbeaten tags have always been of trivial importance to Ballydoyle and that approach has never been more apparent with Lake Victoria, who lost her air of invincibility at Newmarket but returned to her sublime best with an utterly imperious display in the Irish 1,000 Guineas.

There's rarely been a juvenile who packed so much into a campaign as Lake Victoria did last year. She rattled off five electric wins and completed a Group 1 treble last autumn over three different trips, on three contrasting surfaces and in three different countries in seven weeks. That showcased a capacity for adaptation that is rarely seen in any horse, never mind a two-year-old filly.

After such an industrious first year on the track and a slight setback in preparation for her three-year-old campaign, Aidan O'Brien was keen to let her come to hand organically and was originally aiming her at the Athasi Stakes at the Curragh. However, once that contest was changed from seven furlongs to a mile, there was little point in not rolling the dice in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, for all she was not at the required pitch to show her hand.

She ran a fine race to be beaten two and a half lengths into sixth, but shaped as if she was feeling the effects of a long and idle winter as the spark that has become a hallmark of her career was merely flickering as she entered the Dip.

However, it was ablaze at the Curragh as she scorched past the furlong pole and blasted two and a quarter lengths clear of California Dreamer.

Lake Victoria hits the front from California Dreamer (polka dot hat)Credit: Patrick McCann

"All the people around her have done an incredible job with her," said O'Brien after his 11th winner in the Classic. "She was only ready to start going to Newmarket. We were going to come here to the Curragh first time out but, the way it worked, she went to Newmarket.

"We thought she ran an incredible race in the circumstances. Ryan [Moore] looked after her and was over the moon with her. Everything went great after Newmarket and her work was out of this world really.

"We've never had a filly that could win a Group 1 over six, seven and a mile before as a two-year-old. She went to Newmarket getting ready for a racecourse gallop and was beaten only a length or two in the Guineas. She has all the speed in the world, she travels and does everything."

That ability to do everything is increasingly apparent. She has the speed to blow away a Cheveley Park field by three lengths – raw speed which was no doubt inherited from her mother Quiet Reflection, a dual Group 1-winning sprinter for Karl Burke – and the requisite stamina to bomb further and further clear in the closing furlong of an Irish Guineas.

Aidan O'Brien surrounded by the press after Lake Victoria's Classic triumphCredit: Patrick McCann

Moore, who was steering home his fourth winner in the race, settled her in third and spied an opportunity to angle out between long-time leader California Dreamer and Duty First approaching the two-furlong pole.

She took a few strides to fully sort herself out but Moore got alongside the leader a furlong out while merely going through the motions. He began to administer more meaningful encouragement with 150 yards to go and she rocketed clear with the man on board never having to trouble his stick.

"She's out of a class mare, an absolutely top-class sprinter and this filly has that turn of foot as well," added O'Brien. "Ryan gave her an incredible ride. He waited and he had her in a perfect position. When he needed to make a gap he was able to make a gap and he said when he asked her to quicken for the last furlong, she really did for him."

The Adrian Murray-trained California Dreamer ran a huge race, sticking to her guns admirably to finish second and seems have found a new lease of life over a mile.

"We're thrilled with the run," said Murray. "She backed up what she'd been doing at home and got the mile really well and came on lovely from her trial run here last time."

Ryan Moore and Trevor O'Neill are all smiles after Lake Victoria's successCredit: Patrick McCann

With the race largely dominated by those up with the pace, the Joe Murphy-trained Cercene deserves plenty of credit for staying on into third, beaten another length and three-quarters.

"We're delighted, she's a very good filly," said Murphy. "She'll have no problem going up to a mile and a quarter. Gary [Carroll] said the further she was going, the better she was getting."

Had Lake Victoria been cherry ripe for Newmarket, it could have been a long season ahead. Now, she has a Classic in the bag and it seems like she is only getting started. Next on the agenda is next month's Coronation Stakes, for which she is now as short as 5-4. 

Keeping in mind the leap forward she took from Newmarket to the Curragh and the inexorable progression she enjoyed throughout a jam-packed campaign last season, it is impossible to establish any sort of ceiling on her potential.

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