Rory King reflects on Whirl's Nassau Stakes win after a thunderstorm hit Goodwood on day three of the 'Glorious' meeting.
"Who run the world? Girls".
It’s doubtful Beyoncé had Europe’s premier Flat horse race in mind when singing those words, but they could very well be written about the Arc given the record of fillies and mares in the race over the past couple of decades.
Over the past 20 years female runners have made up 68 of the 317 total runners in the Arc (a little over 21%) yet have been responsible for half of the winners in that time (and 23 of the 80 top-4 finishers). The numbers are even more impressive when focusing on the renewals since 2010, with 9 of the last 14 going to a filly or mare, with 5 runners-up in that time, too, on 3 occasions behind a female winner.
All of which means that, particularly in years when there’s not a dominant 3-y-o colt in the mould of Golden Horn or Sea The Stars who has already beaten older horses by this time of year, fillies are invariably the first port of call when looking for potential Arc winners.
This season the filly contingent looks potentially even stronger than usual. Kalpana leapt to the top of the betting with her second to the Arc-ineligible Calandagan in the King George at Ascot on Saturday, but the 3-y-o challenge, primarily in the form of a pair of Ballydoyle stablemates, looks a potent one.
Whirl’s victory in today’s Nassau Stakes sees her now disputing Arc favouritism, and it's very hard to argue with that.
In truth, today’s race saw us learn little more about her, quickly away from the flag start and effectively always in control of the race, none of her 4 rivals able to show their best, but her uncomplicated nature and very willing attitude are just the sort of requisite attributes – alongside a major dollop of class which she seems to possess – for Longchamp in October.
And then there’s Minnie Hauk. She got the better of Whirl by a neck in the Oaks, but I think at least as significant as the result (and subsequent franking of it) was her being the choice of Ryan Moore at Epsom, and apparently categorically so, despite her seeming to have achieved a fair bit less than Whirl to that point.
She’s clearly very well regarded at home, over and above her very lofty price tag, and she could yet be the stable number one for the race. She had less to beat when following up at long odds-on in the Irish Oaks than she had at Epsom, and didn’t have to produce the same sort of performance to do so, but the Yorkshire Oaks in 3 weeks and a first meeting with older fillies/mares will give her the chance to push her rating up even further.
Incidentally, Ballydoyle 3-y-o fillies going from strength to strength amid bold summer campaigning is certainly nothing new, but for one by Coolmore’s new flagbearer Wootton Bassett to be doing so must be especially pleasing.
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