‘She has run a wonderful race’ – Weld so proud Tahiyra in defeat

Lack of a prep run may have told, but little lost in brave battle with Mawj.

Dermot Weld felt the lack of a recent run cost Tahiyra, who finished a close-up second to Mawj in the Qipco 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

The Aga Khan-owned daughter of Siyouni had been vastly impressive when taking the Moyglare on her last run in September.

However, her trainer felt that she would have benefitted from an extra couple of weeks and having made a tardy start from the stalls in the mile fillies’ Classic, she had plenty of ground to make up.

The fact that Chris Hayes’ mount got within half a length of the Saeed bin Suroor-trained winner, following a ding-dong battle from the dip, said plenty about her ability.

After the 6-4 favourite’s defeat, Weld said: “She ran a big race, probably the ground was a shade slow for her.

“We know she has a lot of pace, a lot of speed. She has run a wonderful race – she was seven and a half lengths ahead of the third.

“She has run a very good race. The ground just takes the real speed off her. She’s run, she’s quickened, and Chris Hayes has probably told you that there is another gear there we didn’t just quite get today.

“I’m thrilled with her, she has put in a wonderful performance. I would like to have seen the head-on, as Chris did feel she was carried across a bit.”

Weld left it until late before giving Tahiyra the go-ahead for Newmarket, after he felt she could have done with a little more time.

He explained: “Because of the weather and things we had, I had to be careful of my training of her.

“I would have liked to have got a prep race before today. She only had two runs as a two-year-old.

“The ideal plan was to give her a run in Classic trial a couple of weeks ago. The ground has been very heavy and I didn’t want to pull the guts out of her.

“So we came into the race slightly undercooked. We had her 95 per cent and we didn’t have her 100 per cent and we have got beaten half a length.”

When asked about the possibility of running in the Irish equivalent in two weeks’ time, Weld added: “We’ll see how she comes out of the race. She has had a tough, hard race. I have another Aga Khan filly called Tarawa that ran a very nice prep for the Irish Guineas at Leopardstown today – she was second (to Zarinsk). She is a very sweet filly and she was always on my mind for that, but let’s see.

Tahiyra was touched off by Mawj in the Qipco 1000 Guineas
Tahiyra was touched off by Mawj in the Qipco 1000 Guineas (Nigel French/PA)

“I’m very proud of her – she has run a great race. There’s lots of places we can go with her – she’s run big. I’m delighted with her. Full marks to the winner.”

Kieran Cotter will send Matilda Picotte to the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot after her third-place finish under Ronan Whelan.

Like the winner, she had a busy juvenile campaign, running six times, although she was trying a mile for the first time, having finished runner-up to Never Ending Story at Leopardstown on her three-year-old debut.

Matilda Picotte ran a cracker to finish third
Matilda Picotte ran a cracker to finish third (Niall Carson/PA)

Cotter said: “We are all here and are absolutely over the moon. It was brilliant – she got some cheer in the stands, I can tell you. There are about 20 or 30 of us here.

“We said coming here that third was up for grabs and we knew we had a serious chance of third. We knew she’d be running on fresh air late on, but she is a marvellous filly.

“The track is tailor-made for her, because she has so much pace and she can trap down, cruise down into the dip for the climb home.

“I doubt she will run over the mile again. We’ll go back down to six (furlongs) for the Commonwealth Cup. I think she’ll go straight there to Royal Ascot. We’ll make sure we enjoy the celebrations!”

Joe Fanning, who rode Dance In The Grass to finish fifth at odds of 200-1, felt she would benefit for going up in distance after staying on well.

Dance In The Grass was a fair fifth
Dance In The Grass was a fair fifth (Tim Goode/PA)

He said: “She ran a great race, I just got lost a bit halfway. She stayed on very well and is crying out for extra trip.”

Ryan Moore was a place behind aboard Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf winner, the Aidan O’Brien-trained Meditate.

“She ran respectably. The ground wouldn’t have been in her favour,” Moore said.

Olivia Maralda (125-1) was seventh under David Egan, who said: “I was pleased with the way she ran and I think she’ll be a better filly on top of the ground.

“I thought she was going to be fourth best the last two furlongs, but being on that tacky ground on the last couple of hundred yards up the hill caught her out. She’s a tough filly.”

Frankie Dettori had to settle for eighth on Lezoo
Frankie Dettori had to settle for eighth on Lezoo (John Walton/PA)

Frankie Dettori, victorious aboard Chaldean in the 2000 Guineas on Saturday, was eighth on his final 1000 Guineas ride.

His mount, Lezoo, was always up against it on ground that was too soft for her.

He said: “We tried but we’ll go back to sprinting.”

In contrast, 17-year-old sensation Billy Loughnane was having his first ride in a Classic and finished 14th aboard another 200-1 chance, Sweet Harmony.

He said: “It was a good run. Me and Spence (trainer Richard Spencer) thought we’d try something (and race on the near side) as it hadn’t been raced on for the last few days.

“It probably didn’t pay off in the end, but she’s run well and she’ll be putting her head in front soon.

“That was a class experience. It’s amazing the speed they go in those races! She’s run a cracker.”

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