O’Brien keen to have another crack at Tahiyra with Meditate

Molly Hunter
May 3, 2023 3:38 pm

Dermot Weld’s filly came out on top when they last met.

Aidan O’Brien is not shying away from the prospect of Meditate crossing paths with old foe Tahiyra in the Qipco 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday.

Meditate won the Albany at Royal Ascot and then took the Group Two Debutante Stakes at the Curragh when stepped up to seven furlongs for the first time.

The first defeat of her career came at the same track the following month when she came home two and a half lengths behind Dermot Weld’s Tahiyra in the Moyglare Stud Stakes.

Second again in the Cheveley Park Stakes after that, she then set sail for Keeneland, America, where she ended her season with an impressive success in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

O’Brien has reflected on her losses and feels there were genuine reasons behind both, leaving the trainer excited to see what she can produce when running in the first fillies’ Classic of the term.

Meditate and Ryan Moore at the Curragh (Donall Farmer/PA)

“We felt in the Cheveley Park we might have rushed her back a little bit after the Moyglare,” he said.

“We felt in the Moyglare we might have made a little bit too much use of her in the ground.

“They’re what we think are legitimate excuses as to why she got beat, it will be interesting but it is her first run of the year as well.”

Meditate’s run in the Breeders’ Cup allowed connections to test her over an increased trip of a mile and the performance certainly proved her ability to stay, though Keeneland and Newmarket differ greatly in their nature.

“The times she got beat, we felt there were legitimate reasons for it and that’s why we wanted to go to America if she was well and find out about the mile,” O’Brien explained.

Meditate winning the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot (David Davies/PA)

“We found out about 90 per cent about the mile by going there on a flat track, but the real test of the mile is at Newmarket.

“There’s no test like the Guineas on the Rowley Mile so we’re going to learn a lot more about her.”

Tahiyra is also due to line up at Newmarket on Sunday, but O’Brien has no trepidation about facing her again and is instead heartened by the idea of the best fillies in the division taking one another on.

He said: “We’re delighted that all the good fillies are there, I think that’s what we all want to see in every good race.

“In any big race you don’t want to see any of the good horses not there, then we can put them all together and have a look and see where we’re going.”