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Irish Times
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Transformed Lake Victoria routs her classic opposition in Irish 1,000 Guineas
If a week is a long time in politics then three weeks in the life of a thoroughbred can be transformational as Lake Victoria proved with her Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas success at the Curragh on Sunday. Rarely can an outstanding champion juvenile have finished only sixth in a classic and left connections so pleased as Lake Victoria did after her effort behind Desert Flower in the Newmarket Guineas earlier this month. Aidan O'Brien's confidence that her first start of the season would bring on the filly massively was infectious enough to have her start a 10/11 favourite at the Curragh. Once again, the master trainer was proved correct. Lake Victoria's only challenge through the race was securing enough daylight to get off the rail behind the pacesetting 50/1 outsider California Dreamer, and Ryan Moore managed that manoeuvre with the minimum of fuss. READ MORE Once in daylight the race was in effect over and although California Dreamer held off the 20/1 Cercene for second, just like Saturday's 2000 Guineas success for Field Of Joy, this looked a classic case of the winner first and the rest nowhere. It put the seal on a four-timer for Moore that comprised all four Group races on Sunday, including more top-flight success in a vintage Tattersalls Gold Cup for Los Angeles. That 9/4 favourite rallied to beat Anmaat and another pair of Group One winners. Ryan Moore on Porta Fortuna wins The Lanwades Stud Stakes at The Curragh on Sunday. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/INPHO Porta Fortuna landed the Lanwades Stud Stakes while thoughts even turned to the 2026 classics after giant two-year-old Albert Einstein landed the Marble Hill. If that colt – lauded by O'Brien as 'very special' – is all potential then Lake Victoria proved herself the real classic deal. Unbeaten before Newmarket, and a Group One winner at three different distances in three different countries, the Frankel filly underlined the benefit of a first run of the season by scoring with total authority. '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,' O'Brien said before nominating Royal Ascot's Coronation Stakes next. It was the trainer's 11th win in the race and a fourth for Moore, who said: 'She done everything beautifully today. She's come on massively from Newmarket and she's really exciting.' Earlier, Moore had to work harder to win on Los Angeles, but once again advertised his uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. Ryan Moore on Los Angeles wins The Tattersalls Gold Cup on Sunday, beating Jim Crowley on Anmaat. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/INPHO Last year's Irish Derby was one of the first 'under the pump', but swept to the front in a tactical affair and when Anmaat headed him inside the final furlong, Los Angeles reacted as if affronted. There was just a half a length between them at the line, but the imposing O'Brien colt ultimately won with authority, although the fluctuating fortunes implicit in riding at the top level were advertised in behind. Having won Saturday's classic on Field Of Joy with a perfectly judged spin, Colin Keane endured contrasting fortunes on White Birch, who missed out on third by a head. Keane's decision to try to launch a challenge on the inner rather than go to the outside resulted in a frustrating passage for the grey, who ultimately never got a proper shot at repeating his 2024 success in the race. Los Angeles, too, will be pointed to Royal Ascot and be kept to a mile-and-a-quarter in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes. A shot at the King George and then the Arc could come later. Ryan Moore and Aidan O'Brien after winning The Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas with Lake Victoria at The Curragh on Sunday. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/INPHO 'That was the best he has been today. He done everything beautifully and it was a proper horse race. There was no hiding place. The second is an older horse, but he is proven at the top level and he put it up to me, but my fella found plenty,' Moore said. 'He is a Camelot and they do tend to get better as they get older and you can see the size of this lad, there is still a bit more in him. I'd say the second horse probably went a neck up, but my lad was well on top again at the line.' If Porta Fortuna is a diminutive star on course for the Queen Anne Stakes, then the 540kg Albert Einstein will dwarf his Royal Ascot opposition in the Coventry. The colt had to get out of a pocket in the Marble Hill, but managed it and might even ultimately live up to his billing by O'Brien, who said his counterintuitive priority with the colt is to slow him down. 'The special ones are like that,' he said. 'All you're trying to do is get them to relax all the time.'
Irish Examiner
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Lake Victoria bounces back to land 1,000 Guineas spoils at the Curragh
Aidan O'Brien's insistence that the Newmarket 1000 Guineas would come too soon for Lake Victoria was proven in the extreme when the filly ran out a tremendously impressive winner of the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas on Sunday afternoon at the Curragh. Ryan Moore, who was bidding for a fourth winner of the afternoon, had his mount in the box seat from an early stage as California Dreamer set the fractions. If there was one moment of anxiety for connections, it was as Moore asked his mount to move past Duty First, who kept Lake Victoria in for just a second. Once in the clear, Moore engaged that drive position which inevitably results in winners, and she responded to it by charging past California Dreamer and on to a two-and-a-quarter-length victory. The long-time leader held on to second place quite comfortably, with Cercene running a huge race to get up late for third place for trainer Joe Murphy. 'She was very good today,' said Moore of the filly who was sixth in the English Guineas. 'She wasn't quite there when she went well at Newmarket, but she's a lot better than them. She quickened up very well — she's a very smart filly. She's exciting, she does everything beautifully. Her record last year was very good, and I'm glad she was able to get back on track. 'She's very good and she'll be very hard for the fillies to handle. We'll see what she does the next day, but we haven't got to the bottom of her, so hopefully she can step up again.' O'Brien, for whom she was a third winner of the day and sixth of the three-day meeting, was over the moon. 'She went to Newmarket only getting ready for a racecourse gallop, and Ryan looked after her. She came out of it lovely. Everything went well — it doesn't always, from run to run — but we knew if everything was going to go well, she was going to make massive leaps, and that's what she did. 'She's one of those special ones. She won a Group 1 over six, seven and a mile as a two-year-old, and she travelled the world. She's very unique. The plan was to come here and then go to the Coronation.' The day's other Group 1 was the Tattersalls Gold Cup, and O'Brien and Moore also came out on top, though this one was far more competitive at the finish. With the missed break of the pacemaker, the wayward tendencies of another, the lack of room for a couple, and the general rough and tumble, a weighty tome could emerge from a brilliant renewal of the race. What did arise but was not news to anyone with an iota of knowledge of the sport was that Los Angeles is teak-tough and borderline impossible to beat when a race boils down to a one-on-one battle. And while connections of White Birch may rue the luckless run of their horse, who won this in 2024, and those of Kalpana may curse her luck, some of which was of her own making, a doughty winner was called for and Los Angeles responded. In a pulsating finish, he had a worthy opponent in last season's British Champion Stakes winner Anmaat, but once again he managed to dig in deep and this time it earned him a third Group 1. 'The big fella — Los Angeles — I thought that was the best he's ever been,' said Moore. 'I thought it was a proper horse race. The second horse put it up to him, and Kalpana and White Birch were right there, so I think it was a very solid race. People say he's tough and he's hardy, but he's pretty good as well.' In his future, there could be the Prince Of Wales's Stakes, the King George, an Arc Trial and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, should all go well. The Moore-O'Brien team also took the Group 3 GAIN Marble Hill Stakes with the physically imposing Albert Einstein. All did not go to plan, and the 4-11 chance raced keenly, but he showed class in abundance to pick off Power Blue and Andab close home. 'We always thought he was very special,' admitted the trainer. 'He's probably as fast a horse as we've ever seen work. We thought, at home, that he would be fine with six, seven or a mile, and still could be, but Ryan said he's very quick. 'The plan was to come here and go to the Coventry. I think there's a lot to come from him. He's very exciting. From the first day he worked, we felt he was very different.'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lake Victoria wins Irish 1,000 Guineas in style
Lake Victoria withstood a strong challenge from 50-1 outsider California Dreamer to take victory in the Irish 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh. Like Field of Gold in the Irish 2,000 Guineas on Saturday, the 10-11 shot was out to rebound from a disappointing display at Newmarket. Aidan O'Brien's filly had been unbeaten, including a win at the Breeders' Cup, prior to the 1,000 Guineas this month, but came in sixth out of 10 runners. In an impressive response under Ryan Moore, the three-year-old had to be patient before showing her class, riding along the rail before gliding ahead of California Dreamer to win by two-and-a-quarter lengths, with Cercene (20-1) in third. "She ran beautifully today," Moore told RTE Sport after winning this race for the fourth time. "She's come on massively from Newmarket. It's really exciting." It was an 11th win in this race for O'Brien but his first since 2021.
The Herald Scotland
25-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Lake Victoria back to her brilliant best in Irish 1,000 Guineas
She returned at a mile in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, but connections were not far wrong when they said her preparation had been hurried and she was eventually sixth of 10 runners on the Rowley Mile. That run clearly brought her along perfectly for the Irish equivalent, and after racing happily on the rail she accelerated away neatly when asked at the two-furlong pole and was a comfortable two-and-a-quarter-length winner from Adrian Murray's 50-1 shot California Dreamer. Ryan Moore gives Lake Victoria a well-deserved pat (Niall Carson/PA) 'All the people around her have done an incredible job with her. She was only ready to start going to Newmarket. We were going to come here first time, but the way it worked she went there,' said O'Brien. 'We thought she ran an incredible race (at Newmarket) in the circumstances. Ryan looked after her and was over the moon with her. 'Everything went well (from there), it doesn't always go right but everything went great since Newmarket and her work was out of this world. 'We never had a filly that could win a Group One 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. 'Ryan gave her an incredible ride. He had her in a perfect position and when he had to make a gap he was able to make a gap. When he asked her to quicken the last furlong she really did for him.' A big thumbs up from Aidan O'Brien (Niall Carson/PA) It is likely the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot now awaits the filly. 'The plan was to come here and go to the Coronation, that's always been the plan for her. Obviously the lads will decide that, but I'd imagine if everything is well and everyone is happy that's where she will go. 'Ryan had a big smile, I haven't seen him smile like that for a long time! He had her in the perfect position, but he still had to make a hole. We couldn't be happier with her. The ground was beautiful and everything worked lovely for her.' Paddy Power and Betfair went 13-8 for the Coronation Stakes, with Coral 5-4.
Glasgow Times
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Hayes hoping Swelter can burn off Classic rivals at the weekend
The Kingman filly won her only started at two over a mile at Leopardstown and then showed plenty of speed when dropping down to seven furlongs to hold off Exactly in a Group Three on her return, with that rival subsequently beaten just over a length in the French Guineas. 'We're still a few days away and I'll have a sit on her in the week, we'll obviously be conscious of the weather,' said Hayes. 'The form of her trial has worked out well, she's an exciting filly. 'She had one start last year and was impressive in that. It was nice to see her drop back a furlong and quicken up in the manner she did off a fast pace, in a race where the form has really worked out with the third, fourth and fifth all running well since. 'I'm very much looking forward to it.' There is a strong challenge from the UK to overcome, with Ollie Sangster leaving in both Flight and Simmering, second and third to Desert Flower in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. Archie Watson could also run Duty First, so impressive in the Fred Darling but a disappointment in the Classic. Donnacha O'Brien has supplemented his unbeaten filly Atsila while his father Aidan still has four of the 14 in contention including Lake Victoria, sixth on her seasonal return at Newmarket after a stellar juvenile campaign. Royal Ascot winner Bedtime Story, Exactly and January could also run. Paddy Twomey's City of Memphis, winner of her only start, is another supplementary entry while Adrian Murray has two possibles in California Dreamer and Jaliyah. Cercene and Tamam Desert have also been confirmed.
