Lake Victoria wins the Moyglare
Lake Victoria swept past her field in the Moyglare

Lake Victoria won the Moyglare Stud Stakes on Irish Champions Weekend | report and free replay


Lake Victoria sprung a minor surprise when winning the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh on Irish Champions Weekend.

Bedtime Story, the choice of Ryan Moore, was favourite for this race and in the ante-post markets for the Classics off the back of her brilliant performance at Royal Ascot but she failed to sparkle in this seven furlong Group One.

Sent off in front of her four rivals, Bedtime Story was hardpressed by Simmering at the furlong pole but a few lengths covered the whole field as they fanned out across the track.

Red Letter was gradually getting into her stride against the rail but Lake Victoria, racing in last, was pulled towards the middle of the track and picked up by far the best for Wayne Lordan to win by a length and a quarter from Simmering.

A winner from Red Letter on debut, Lake Victoria was stepped up to Group Three company at Newmarket where she made all in the Sweet Solera and proved her tactical versatility here in retaining her unbeaten record.

Lordan said: "She's a lovely filly, she has a bit of pace, she can quicken and she got to the line well.

"I didn't know whether she had the experience; Bedtime Story is after a good few runs now and she's a hardy filly to get by, I was hoping for a big run and she stepped up on the day."

Aidan O’Brien said: “She’s a very good filly. She won here the first day, she got to the front and was very green. Ryan said she got to the front way too early that day, but her pace took her there and she obviously still won.

“She went to Newmarket and Seanie (Levey) won on her and she won very impressively. She’s a very classy filly.

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“We thought she would be second to the other filly. Ryan’s filly just hit the gates, he just couldn’t get her back then and that was it. When that happens it’s usually over. She’ll be grand too, she’s a little bit like her sister and we’ll just go gentle and slow her down a little bit.

“It’s always a worry after what she did in Ascot that could happen and we took it very gentle the next twice afraid it could happen but it still happened. We’ll work another way out just to get her to go to sleep again. Wayne rides her out the whole time and he will do that.

“I’m delighted for Wayne. He’s a great fella and he does a lot of work, day in day out at home. He’s a great rider and we’re so lucky to have him here after what happened in the Irish Derby. He went through a tough time for four or five months and nobody deserves it more. He’s a world-class rider.

“It’s a possibility the winner could go to the Cheveley Park. We ran her here with the thought in our head that she could be a Cheveley Park filly.

“We thought she’d be second to the other filly. She’s a very fast filly and that was the plan. We took our time on her, let her relax, and didn’t want to give her a tough race. Wayne gave her a brilliant ride. She’s fast, she’s by Frankel but she’s made like a sprinter.”

Lake Victoria was cut to 5/1 for the 1000 Guineas by Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook and Sky Bet having been as big as 20/1 the day before. Lake Victoria is a best of 14/1 (from 25s) for the Oaks.

Ollie Sangster said of Simmering: "We're delighted, big team effort and everyone did a wonderful job. It was a big roll of the dice to bring her over here and I appreciate the Al Shaqab team supplementing her but she deserved to be here and has run a fantastic race.

"This wasn't the original plan after Deauville but she's been doing very well and seems to be improving all the time. She's a good-sized, scopey filly and I think she's going to be a lovely filly for next year. I think she'll definitely get a mile next season, she's a straightforward filly, she relaxes very well and has a good turn of foot."


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