2022 Eclipse Awards: Tuesday
A European filly who raced only once in North America left a lasting impression in 2022. Tuesday, whose win in the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf capped a successful international campaign and ultimately capped her career, is an Eclipse Award finalist as outstanding 3-year-old filly.
Aidan O’Brien trains Tuesday, bred in Ireland by Coolmore and owned by a Coolmore partnership that includes Westerberg Limited, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith. A high-profile pedigree gave Tuesday a license to be a top-class racing filly, and she delivered in a 2022 campaign that included a Group 1 win in England prior to her Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup victory at Keeneland.
Sired by Galileo, Tuesday was produced by Lillie Langtry, a 2010 multiple Group 1 winner trained by O’Brien and owned by Magnier, Tabor, and Smith. Lillie Langtry retired from racing in 2010 and became a top producer. Her second foal was Minding, a Galileo filly who won six Group 1 races.
:: Full list of 2022 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
Perhaps influenced by the success of Minding, Coolmore bred Lillie Langtry back to Galileo in 2018. The result was Tuesday, full sister to Minding, foaled late in the season on June 3, 2019.
Ryan Moore rode Tuesday to a runner-up finish in her career debut as a 2-year-old in June 2021; she did not race again until May 2022, well short of her true 3-year-old birthday. Moore was aboard Tuesday when she won a 17-runner maiden race in Ireland. By then, O’Brien and the filly’s owners believed she was special.
Off the maiden-win comeback in her second start, Tuesday jumped in class for the Group 1 English 1000 Guineas and finished third under Frankie Dettori. Reunited with Moore in her next four starts, Tuesday finished second in the Irish 1000 Guineas, followed by an upset victory in the Group 1 Epsom Oaks on June 3, the day she actually turned 3.
In her last four starts overseas, Tuesday had a runner-up finish in the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks in summer and finished off the board in three Group 1’s. But she was running well enough to take a shot at the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, a race O’Brien had considered throughout her campaign.
A better-than-looked sixth in the Group 1 Prix de l ’Opera was her final start in Europe, and she shipped to Kentucky for the Breeders’ Cup.
Third choice in the betting at 4.19-1, Tuesday was given a masterful ride by Moore. They saved ground midpack, angled outside for the drive, powered home, and ran past front-runner In Italian to win by a length in 1:51.88. It was a Keeneland course record at the seldom-used turf distance of 1 3/16 miles.
Tuesday was retired following the Breeders’ Cup. Plans call for her to be bred to Justify. Tuesday retires having won three races and $1,828,827 from 10 starts.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.