Lake Victoria Rebounds in Irish One Thousand Guineas
Aidan O’Brien reasserted his dominance over the Irish One Thousand Guineas (G1) as Lake Victoria came out on top at the Curragh.
O’Brien won the classic a record 10 times from 1997-2021 but had been out of luck in the last three years, which qualifies as a slump for him. However, normal service was resumed as 10-11 favorite Lake Victoria triumphed by 2 1/4 lengths under Ryan Moore, who was landing a fourth Irish One Thousand Guineas and a first since 2019.
“She was very good,” Moore said. “She quickened up very well. She’s a very smart filly. She’s exciting, she does everything beautifully.”
Lake Victoria had been Europe’s champion 2-year-old filly last season, when she won three group 1 or grade 1 races in six weeks in the autumn. That stretch included a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T).
But the daughter of Frankel was reportedly slow to come to hand this spring and finished only sixth in the One Thousand Guineas (G1) at Newmarket on her comeback.
On Sunday the 50-1 shot California Dreamer made the running and held on for second, a length and three-quarters ahead of 20-1 chance Cercene .
Unbeaten tags have always been of trivial importance to Ballydoyle and that approach has never been more apparent than with Lake Victoria, who lost her air of invincibility at Newmarket but returned to her sublime best with an utterly imperious display Sunday.
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.
O’Brien said: “Everyone around her has done an incredible job. She was only ready to go to Newmarket, we were going to come here for her first time but the way it worked we went there.
“We thought she ran an incredible race in the circumstances at Newmarket. Ryan looked after her, he was over the moon with her. Everything went well after Newmarket and her work was out of this world really.
“We never had a filly who would win a group 1 over six furlongs, seven furlongs, and a mile before as a 2-year-old. She has all the speed in the world. She travels well and she does everything right.”
Lake Victoria has several options this summer and Paddy Power made her 13-8 favorite (from 5-2) for the Coronation Stakes (G1), 8-1 (from 12) for the Oaks (G1), 5-1 (from 10) for the Irish Oaks (G1) and 16-1 (from 25) for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1).
Looking ahead, Moore said: “She’s very good, she’ll be very hard for the fillies to handle. We’ll see what she does the next day, if she keeps building on it I don’t think we’ve got to the bottom of her so hopefully she can keep progressing.”
