Wonderful Winter breezes to third straight Group 1

Winter led home a Coronation Stakes one-two-three for Aidan O'Brien, beating stablemates Roly Poly and Hydrangea in a Ballydoyle clean sweep to secure a third successive Group 1.

Having produced explosive performances in winning the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Irish equivalent at the Curragh, this comfortable two-and-a-quarter-length success may have lacked the fireworks of those Classic triumphs.

But it was no less authoritative as she lengthened clear inside the final furlong to provide O'Brien and rider Ryan Moore with a Group 1 double on the day, following Caravaggio's Commonwealth Cup victory.

"She's a grand big mare. She's getting relaxed, isn't she?" O'Brien said. "I thought she was a little bit lazy early in the race, but when Ryan got her together she galloped out strongly. She's doing very well [physically].

"All these Group 1 races are hard to win, so we just go from one race to another. She's obviously a very good filly to make it [the Group 1 treble] happen. She was very good at Newmarket and the Curragh and did it well again here."

The first filly to complete this Group 1 treble since Attraction in 2004, Winter has proved her dominance among the three-year-old fillies, but could be given the opportunity to test her mettle against the older mares in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket next month, for which she was introduced as the 5-4 favourite with Paddy Power.

Aidan O'Brien shows his delight after Winter's Coronation Stakes triumphCredit: Edward Whitaker

O'Brien mentioned the Falmouth as a possible target, but also raised the tantalising prospect of seeing Winter upped in trip.

"We'll see how she is and how her training goes," he said. "She's had four races in quick enough time but she's thriving.

"I'd say she'd go further. Her best furlong was the last furlong – she galloped out. Two and a half out you'd almost say, 'Is she going to go away?' But then she got going."

Moore praised the filly's professionalism, suggesting there was plenty still in the tank. He said: "She's only doing what she has to do, really. She travelled beautifully through the race and is getting very professional. She's got a lot of class."

O'Brien declared himself delighted with the performances of Roly Poly and Hydrangea, who filled the places without threatening to challenge the decisive winner, saying they had "both run crackers".

However, there was a sting in the tail for Seamie Heffernan, rider of second Roly Poly, and Padraig Beggy, rider of Hydrangea, who picked up suspensions.

Heffernan was found guilty of careless riding and picked up a five-day ban, while Derby-winning rider Beggy was deemed to have used his whip above the permitted level and was suspended for two days.

Minding on comeback trail

Aidan O'Brien had news of last season's superstar filly Minding, who was forced to miss Ascot having suffered a setback before an intended run in the Tattersalls Gold Cup.

"She's good. She's back on long reins on Monday for three weeks and then hopefully she'll be ready to ride again, and then it will probably take a couple of months after that [before she runs again]."

Of Rhododendron, who was pulled up in Sunday's Prix de Diane, he added: "She's okay, a little bit quiet in herself. We'll go gentle and wait for her for a couple of weeks."

Minding: forced to miss Ascot but moving towards a returnCredit: Patrick McCann