Royal Dress and Ben Coen © Photo Healy Racing
Royal Dress continued a good weekend for the British raiders when staying on best close home to win the Group 3 Al Shira'aa Racing Meadow Court Stakes at the Curragh.
Successful in a Listed race at Goodwood on her reappearance, the James Tate trained four-year-old had struggled in better company on two subsequent starts.
Sent off 16/1 here, the daughter of Night Of Thunder was held up last of the quintet by Ben Coen, as Laura Pearson took the field along on Sparks Fly
Holding a five-length lead turning into the home straight, Pearson came across to the stands side, forfeiting that advantage in the process. Jackie Oh led for a brief period on the far side but was soon headed by American Sonja Caernarfon joined issue inside the final furlong, before Coen quickened best between the trio to burst clear for a two-and-three-quarter-length success.
Tate said: "I'm delighted with that, I wasn't so happy when she was an unlucky third at Epsom or when the ground got a bit quick for her at Ascot, but everything went perfectly today.
"I was hoping that the ground today was soft enough for her. We discovered at Ascot that it's not really that she needs the ground soft, she just needs a decent test of stamina. So although the ground wasn't that soft today, with Sparks Fly going off so quick, that played nicely into our hands.
"There's no way we'll be going back to a mile now after winning over nine furlongs today. A mile and a quarter would be ideal and on that kind of ground you wouldn't even rule out a mile and a half.
"I think it would be a bit greedy to go for the Nassau (at Goodwood on August 1). It was either this race today, or there were a couple of other options, including the Nassau.
"We've chosen this and it's worked out great, so we'll enjoy today and see what mile-and-a-quarter or mile-and-a-half Group Ones or Group Twos we can find on soft ground."
Coen said:- “In Ascot the ground was just too quick and it was a messy kind of a race. They quickened up at the bottom of the straight and she just got tapped for toe.
“She wasn't beaten that far and when things work out for her she's a talented filly.
“I knew she was well as she tortured me the whole way down to the start. I couldn't really go any quicker early on so there was no fear of her settling today.
“To be fair she hit a flat spot turning in and I thought she quickened up well then from the two to the one and put the race to bed.”
When asked if the front-runner going wide had an effect on the race he added:-
“I didn't feel so, I was happy I could sit on her for three of four strides just to fill her before I asked her to go again. I thought the two in front of me were the ones to beat so I didn't really pay much attention to that.
“She's probably bred to want a mile-and-a-half but she had that sort of temperament that she's been running over trips too short for her.
“She's settling better every race so hopefully we can keep stepping her up.”
Additional reporting by Gary Carson.
