Deirdre rallies up fence to take Group 1 Nassau at Goodwood

The Japanese mare Deirdre upset the Group 1 Nassau Stakes on Thursday at Goodwood under a sweet rail-skimming ride from Oisin Murphy.

Murphy, hugging the far-side fence through the homestretch, got late-running Deirdre into full stride about three-sixteenths of a mile from the finish of the 1 1/4-mile Nassau and his mount overhauled pacesetting Mehdaayih in the final furlong and was going away as she crossed the line 1 1/4 lengths to the good.

“There was no pressure on me and so I rode her as I felt from instinct,” said Murphy. “It paid off. She picked up really well and I was able to use that fresh strip of ground on the rail.”

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Deirdre has been stabled in trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam’s yard in Newmarket for about three months and finished sixth over rain-softened ground she didn’t handle in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Ascot in late June. Deirdre was a 20-1 shot overseas and 18-1 on the North American tote-board, a big price on a solid Group 1-level mare who had finished second over this trip last December in the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup.

Mitsuru Hashida trains Deirdre, a 5-year-old daughter of Harbinger and the Special Week mare Reizend. Deirdre is expected to remain in England to continue her European campaign at least through late summer.

Mehdaayih ran well in defeat for the red-hot team of trainer John Gosden and jockey Frankie Dettori after racing too aggressively in the early stages. She was clearly second in front of late-running Rawdaa, while Hermosa, the heavy favorite for trainer Aidan O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore, performed very poorly and faded to last of nine. Channel, who had won the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) in her most recent start also was ineffective and checked in seventh.