Unbeaten Juddmonte mare Babouche knock out the pony Whistle jacket to win the Phoenix Stakes (G1) on 10 August at The Curragh for rider Colin Keane and trainer Ger Lyons.
Daughter of Kodiac rhythm Camille Pissarro in the Anglesey Stakes (G3) at the track last month and defeated another Aidan O’Brien-trained star as she proved a length and a half stronger than July Stakes (G2) winner Whistlejacket.
Whistlejacket, the 8-13 favourite after a comfortable win at Newmarket last time out, looked in control as he raced under Ryan Moore, but was unable to respond to Babouche’s electric pace when asked to accelerate in a six-furlong grass race on good ground.
Babouche continued to impress and cruised home to defeat his rivals in the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes, taking the top prize for Ger Lyons!@ctkjockey | @JuddmonteFarms pic.twitter.com/PEYo1gHizT
— Curragh Racecourse (@curraghrace) August 10, 2024
The mare showed great attitude as she battled for the lead in the final furlong and eventually won convincingly over Whistlejacket, who finished fourth in the Norfolk Stakes (G2) earlier this summer. Arizona Fire run Tuesday.
Keane said: “We learned quite a lot from her last time and I was keen for her to stick to something today. The two up front kept us on track but she was probably still going too fast. But from midway through she relaxed.
“She looked a bit unusual coming in but she’s clearly a very smart mare. She has a lot of natural speed and she makes things look easy. I reckon in time she’ll have no problem running seven furlongs and maybe a mile, but six suits her at the moment.”
In winning, she made it three wins from three starts and gave Lyons and Keane their first victories in the top youth sprint since sparrow in 2019. The trainer also has another promising Juddmonte mare at Red letters .
“She’s a good horse and we knew that from the start,” Lyons said. “Horses like this are hard to find. When guys like us find them, we can make it happen.
“It’s all about sourcing horses. There’s only one entity on the planet that can source horses consistently and that’s Aidan. But when the rest of us get a chance, we can do it. It’s great to have the opportunity, even though it’s rare.
“We had some great 2-year-olds this year – the mares were much better than the stallions – and it’s great to say we had one, that they bred, because nine times out of 10 they don’t breed. It’s great.”
Lyons said his mare will have one more outing this season in the Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) on September 28, which she won in 2011 with Pearl brightening instead of going up to seven furlongs for the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1). Juddmonte sponsors Cheveley Park.
“She will stay on this trip until she tells me,” he said. “At the moment the plan is Cheveley Park and (she will) complete the trip this year. There is no need to rush the trip.”
O’Brien also didn’t expect to be able to run Whistlejacket over a longer distance.
“She ran a good race, so we’ll see how she goes,” he said. “She’s a fast horse and I don’t see the need to speed her up. The winner was a good mare.”
