Blond Me wins the Grade One E. P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine for Andrew Balding and Oisin Murphy
Blond Me recorded a famous success for Andrew Balding and Oisin Murphy in the Grade One E. P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine in Canada.
The five-year-old filly, who won the Middleton Stakes at York in May, was given a confident ride by Murphy - winning the second top-level event of his career after Aclaim in the Prix de la Foret last month - and swept into the straight full of running.
It did not take her long to get the better of a brief duel with Kitten's Roar as she stayed on strongly, despite hanging marginally to her right.
The Aidan O'Brien-trained Rain Goddess was never able to get in any sort of blow, trailing in last under Ryan Moore.
Balding's mare made a successful start to the season in the Middleton Stakes at York in May before finding only Winter too strong in the Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
She fluffed her lines in last month's Prix Vermeille at Chantilly, but showed her true colours in soft ground at Woodbine with a determined victory.
"I think she deserved it. She's won races at Group Two level and was second in the Nassau Stakes," Balding told At The Races.
"Although she'd won the Middleton on soft ground and was second in the Nassau on soft ground, I've always felt she's better on a faster surface. I think she just handled it better than most of the others.
"She retires at the end of the season and will probably have one last go in Hong Kong, in either the Vase or the Cup, and finish her career then."
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