Homecoming Queen takes away the Qipco 1000 Guineas from Maybe, the 13/8 favourite
If there is a trainer who is abundantly blessed at the very beginning of the British flat season then that has to be the immensely proud and accomplished, A. P. O’Brien. It took him twenty-four hours for being the honorable winning trainer for the Classics,
the Group 1 Qipco 2000 Guineas Stakes and the Qipco 1000 Guineas Stakes.
Camelot gave him the 2000 Guineas on Saturday, 5th May and on 6th May, A. P. O’Brien was gifted the 1000 Guineas by his three-year-old bay filly, Homecoming Queen.
The most celebrated entry for the race was Homecoming Queen’s 13/8 favourite stable mate, Maybe. Galileo’s three-year-old bay filly was unbeaten in the five career starts but had to meet the first failure on 6th May. Owing to the overwhelming
credentials of Maybe, no one paid much attention to Homecoming Queen.
Holy Roman Emperor’s filly out of mare, Lagrion, was ridden by Ryan Moore. Breaking from the second stall, she fell into a high gear and made it to the front immediately. At the beginning of the race, her style was being confused with that of an entry who
is setting pace for the race.
Homecoming Queen was not being taken very seriously because of the expectations associated with the unbeaten stable mate, Maybe.
However by the time the two furlong pole came into sight, Ryan Moore geared up his mount and that moment on, the turn of foot had become too prominent to miss. She stayed strong throughout the remaining distance of the race and led the runner up, Starscope,
by a staggering nine lengths.
John Gosden’s trained filly was ridden by Jimmy Fortune.
The favourite stable mate of the winner, Maybe, settled third.
The racing styles of both the champions is poles apart with Camelot reserving strength by staying in the rear for most of the race and Homecoming Queen sticking to a high pace throughout the race.
The only unfortunate episode when the race was about to begin was the fatal injury that Gray Pearl suffered when trying to break out of the stall and apparently ending up in a spiral injury.
About the future plans for 1000 Guineas Queen, the trainer said:
"Ryan says she'll stay further. She has a lot of options, but the boys will talk about that later in the week. She can go to the Irish Guineas or she can go anywhere - the Curragh, Ascot and Epsom are all in the mix. There are lot of options open to her
now. She's a very progressive filly."
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