Bedtime Story maintains unbeaten record at Leopardstown
By Gary Carson
08:49 · FRI July 26, 2024
Impressive Royal Ascot winner Bedtime Story comfortably maintained her unbeaten record with a professional display in the Jockey Club of Turkey Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown.
Aidan O’Brien’s daughter of Frankel, who is out of the speedy Mecca’s Angel, returned to the scene of her winning debut following her spectacular nine-and-a-half-length romp against the colts in the Chesham Stakes.
Sent off as a prohibitive 1/16 favourite in the hands of Ryan Moore for this Group Three contest, her jockey never had a moment’s worry as Bedtime Story was urged to move alongside stablemate Exactly with a furlong to run before breezing away for a commanding three-and-a-half-length success.
In the aftermath, she was left unchanged as the 5/2 favourite for next year’s 1000 Guineas by Paddy Power and made the 8/1 ante-post market leader for the Oaks.
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“I’m delighted with her, Ryan was delighted with her and said he didn’t open her up,” said O’Brien. “He said she was very green and in an ideal world, he would have preferred the tempo to be quicker. He said he just came there and taught her. That’s exactly what we came here for, for education. It’s a great place to do it.
“He said she’s very pacey and classy and for sure, we saw that. I’d say you couldn’t go fast enough for her. To hear him saying that he never opened her up is a good sign. That means he was only in third gear.
“It’s great to be educating them. Last year, we ran Ylang Ylang here, made the running and mentally it did her a little bit of harm for the rest of the year. We had to go back and start again.
“That’s why we let the other filly go along in front of her today, to educate her. I thought if she was well, she’d go for the Debutante at the Curragh on the way to the Moyglare. We’re teaching her to relax and race. The second filly is a lovely filly and she’ll step up to a mile whenever we want her to.”
When asked to compare Bedtime Story with Albany Stakes winner Fairy Godmother, O’Brien added: “Obviously, I haven’t worked them together. We’ll all see together, but I won’t be opening them up at home.
“We were thinking about going to the Phoenix or the Morny with Fairy Godmother, but Whistlejacket might take that slot now, so I won’t rush with her. If everything went well with Whistlejacket in the Phoenix, he could go back to the Morny the week after, because he’s a fast two-year-old. Henri Matisse is going to go to the Futurity on the way to the National Stakes. We’re going to go up to seven with him next.
“Lake Victoria will probably end up in the Moyglare and might go to the Debutante for experience. The Lion In Winter is in the Goffs Million and he might have a run before it. It could be the Futurity, he just needs one run in between.”
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