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Mawj fends off favourite Tahiyra in 1000 Guineas at Newmarket

Updated / Sunday, 7 May 2023 17:04
Mawj, in the Godolphin blue, repels Tahiyra in a tremendous tussle
Mawj, in the Godolphin blue, repels Tahiyra in a tremendous tussle

Mawj gained a scintillating success in the Qipco 1000 Guineas, getting the better of favourite Tahiyra after an epic duel up the Rowley Mile at Newmarket.

Trained by Saeed bin Suroor, the Exceed And Excel filly showed guts aplenty under a superb ride from Oisin Murphy to score by half a length.

The 9-1 winner had to do the hard work on the near side as the 20-strong field split into two groups – and it always looked like being a two-horse battle from the dip.

Tahiyra fell out of the stalls, but made silky-smooth headway under Chris Hayes and the Dermot Weld-trained filly looked the most likely winner a furlong out.

However, on her first start of the season, the Moyglare winner – sent off the 6-4 market leader – just lost out to the battle-hardened Mawj, who had twice won in Meydan over the winter.

The pair were seven and a half lengths clear of Kieran Cotter's Matilda Picotte, who had helped the set the pace on the far-side group and stuck to her guns gallantly. Caernarfon was fourth for Jack Channonn.

It was a welcome return to the big-race winner’s enclosure for Bin Suroor and his third success in the race following Cape Verdi (1998) and Kazzia (2002).

Bin Suroor said: "I think this is Group One number 195 around the world.

"The filly was doing well before the race. If you saw her last year she was really tough and strong. She is a tiny filly, but she has a big heart. She is a Group Two winner here and unbeaten in Dubai.

"I spoke to Sheikh Mohammed before we ran her in Dubai over a mile. We tried her over a mile and she did well out in Dubai. I talked to Sheikh Mohammed before we declared her and it was a great decision from him, and the filly won well – we're happy with her."

Former champion Murphy – who this season has returned to the saddle following a 14-month riding ban – said: "I was worried there wasn’t a lot of pace in the race and I rode her a bit like Frankie (Dettori) rode Chaldean yesterday – I set my own fractions on the wing with no cover.

"It really was a very good training performance, she hasn’t run in nearly three months and I got a huge buzz out of that. These are such important races."

Elsewhere on the card, Via Sistina (5-2) was a runaway winner in a strong renewal of the Howden Dahlia Stakes for jockey Jamie Spencer and trainer George Boughey.

The strapping daughter of Fastnet Rock, reportedly the biggest horse in the Newmarket yard, had won a Group Three at Toulouse in November, having finished runner-up on her first start for the yard in a similar contest at Newmarket.

Formerly with Joseph Tuite, the five-year-old was back down in trip to nine furlongs for her seasonal debut and relished the soft ground, travelling sweetly throughout the Group Two contest.

As the field split into two groups early, Spencer sat motionless on the far side as last season's Falmouth winner Prosperous Voyage set the pace, and he was still on the bridle when the pace quickened.

With two furlongs to race Via Sistina was asked to quicken and she strode clear in tremendous fashion to score eased down by six lengths from Al Husn, who got the better of Astral Beau by half a length for the minor honours.

Boughey said: "She’s done very well over the winter and Jamie said he had them covered all the way.

"The ground is so key to her – she’s got a hell of a turn of foot in soft ground. Her work is good on decent ground, but when it’s soft I haven’t got anything to go with her, so this hasn’t come as a huge surprise. When the rain started to fall we were pretty happy.

"She’s done it with consummate ease there. She’s not so free now, she’s able to relax and that’s going to enable her to get better and better.

"Even at the back end of last year we were talking about the Prix de l’Opera on Arc day as a realistic possibility. It’s been soft for the last however many years on Arc day and we’ll work back from that.

"The Pretty Polly on Irish Derby day is possibly the next step and she’s not sort of pace, so I think she’s pretty versatile trip-wise."

Former Derby and King George winner Adayar (5-6F) showed a clean pair of heels to his four rivals in the rescheduled bet365 Gordon Richards Stakes.

Charlie Appleby's Frankel entire had been sidelined for 11 months before winning a conditions event at Doncaster in September and followed that with a half-length defeat to Bay Bridge in the Champion Stakes at Ascot.

Making his seasonal bow as a five-year-old, William Buick’s mount was sent off the favourite for the 10-furlong Group Three contest, which was saved after Sandown’s card was abandoned last weekend.

Despite the soft ground, his supporters never had any cause for concern, as the Godolphin-owned runner tracked stablemate Highland Avenue, himself making his return after 428 days off.

While James Doyle set out to make all, Adayar settled superbly in behind and taking it up on the bridle approaching a furlong out, William Buick’s mount lengthened with the minimum of fuss, striding clear to win by two and a half lengths.

Anmaat, who had a 5lb penalty for winning the Prix Dollar at ParisLongchamp in October, was a little keen early on, but stayed on well under Jim Crowley to overhaul Highland Avenue for second late on.

Appleby said: "It’s tiring ground out there, he got tired and didn’t handle the dip, but good horses can overcome those negatives and still do what he’s done today.

"I’m very pleased to get him back on track, he’s had a nice experience out there today and he will definitely come forward for the run, so I’d imagine now it’s all systems go for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

"He and Hurricane Lane are two great racehorses and it’s great to get the pair of them back this week. We feel the mile and a half is going to be Hurricane Lane’s division this year and I’ve always wanted Adayar to try to win a Group One over a mile and a quarter as it will look very good on his CV.

"Better ground at Ascot would suit him, for sure. They went a sensible gallop today, but I think in a Prince of Wales’s where he’ll get a good, strong gallop to run at it will suit him really well, and we know he loves Ascot.

John Gosden was hesitant to commit to a tilt at the Betfred Oaks with Running Lion (100-30) following her dominant success in the Howden Pretty Polly Stakes.

The three-year-old was always travelling strongly in the hands of Oisin Murphy. Once given her head, Running Lion soon put clear daylight between herself and her rivals and passed the post with four and a half lengths in hand over the runner-up Sumo Sam.

"We're delighted with her. We brought her down here for a piece of work and Oisin said we should go for the Pretty Polly rather than the 1000 Guineas as she’ll need the mile and a quarter, so we’ve made the right decision," said the Clarehaven handler.

"Roaring Lion was a wonderful horse with all the Group Ones that he won. He won the Dante in tremendous style, we went to the Derby, he was the last one off the bridle and didn’t see out the mile and a half, so it will be very interesting with this filly whether she’s more Prix de Diane or a mile-and-a-half Oaks filly. We’ll have to give that a bit of thought.

"Anything’s possible and you’ve got more trials to come. There’s the Musidora at York and the Newbury trial and the filly of Sir Michael Stoute’s who won here on Friday (Infinite Cosmos) looked very classy, so we’ll see how it shapes up."

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Accreditation: PA

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