Whirl beats Kalpana at the Curragh

Antepost discussion as Sporting Life podcast team analyse Whirl v Kalpana

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Thu July 03, 2025 · 6M ago

Our podcast team debate the merits of Whirl’s victory over Kalpana and what it could mean for the rest of the campaign.

Aidan O’Brien’s daughter of Wootton Bassett showed tenacious battling qualities to win the Group 1 Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday after getting the better of the strong-travelling four-year-old Kalpana.

Graham Cunningham kicked off the chat as he compared Whirl to the likes of stablemate Lambourn who won the Irish Derby the same weekend.

He said: “I think we’re looking at a fairly middling bunch of three-year-old colts, which makes me look at the likes of Kalpana and Whirl and how strong a hand the fillies might have to play in the second half of the season."

Billy Nash agreed and pondered where Whirl might go next, saying: “I think she was described as 'the perfect racehorse' by Aidan O’Brien afterwards, not like him to produce the hyperbole after a race, but she’s really tough, she’s really genuine and he’s got a similar filly in the barn called Minnie Hauk so it will be interesting to see how he splits them up.

“The Nassau looks the obvious race for Whirl after the weekend, Minnie Hauk is supposed to go for the Irish Oaks, but it’s possible we haven’t seen the best of her [Whirl] yet as these Ballydoyle horses tend to get better and better.”

Whirl is now prominent in the betting for the Nassau Stakes, Yorkshire Oaks and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Ed Chamberlin wouldn’t be surprised to see her take in Goodwood, York and Longchamp.

“The great thing is we’ll see her everywhere,” he said. “He’s so aggressive with the campaigning of his fillies. Between now and the Breeders’ Cup I think we’ll see Whirl all over the place which is really good.”

As for Andrew Balding's Kalpana, she lost nothing in defeat and Ben Linfoot still expects her to have a big say in the big prizes later in the campaign.

He said: “I think there’s been a will to try and get a 10-furlong Group 1 into her for obvious reasons and it hasn’t quite happened, but she’s a proper mile and a half filly to me and a bit of cut in the ground, we saw what she did on soft in the Fillies and Mares, by Study Of Man, I think she’s going to have a really big autumn.

“I’d take a positive view of the form of the Pretty Polly, I know Survie was quite close up in third and she was hammered by Bluestocking on a couple of occasions last season, but Graeme North wrote in his Watch & Learn column about the slow mid-section in the race and I think that explains why she was so close.

“I’d take a positive view of the first two and especially Kalpana when she steps back up to a mile and a half.”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE RACING PODCAST

That could be in the Arc itself, according to Chamberlin.

“I think Andrew is working backwards from the Arc, steady, steady and then all about the autumn probably.”

Linfoot said: “She could go Yorkshire Oaks on the way, I guess," before host Dave Ord concluded: “That could be a crackerjack with Desert Flower coming back and Aidan running Minnie Hauk, that’s where he tends to run his best fillies.

“Lots to look forward to in the weeks ahead."