Goodwood: Lady Bowthorpe perseveres through soft going to win Group 1 Nassau
Lady Bowthorpe, a vastly troubled fourth last out in the Falmouth Stakes last out, validated her connections’ confidence she’d stay a mile and a quarter by notching the first Group 1 victory of her career in the Nassau Stakes on Friday at Goodwood.
It was also a first Group 1 for jockey Kieran Shoemark, who gave Lady Bowthorpe a fine, second-over trip in the Nassau.
Joan of Arc, the 3-year-old filly coming off a victory in the Prix de Diane, showed the way in the Nassau, Zeyaadah, racing without cover, tracking on the outside and giving cover to Lady Bowthorpe behind her. Run over a turning course, with a very sharp bend before the final relatively straight run through a long homestretch, the Nassau unfolded with the horses going two by two until they turned for home.
Zeyaadah came along side Joan of Arc, who fought back as Shoemark pulled Lady Bowthorpe wide. Lady Bowthorpe, churning determinedly, came alongside the top pair with a furlong left to race and crept away from them to the finish, posting a 1 1/2-length victory.
At the finish, Zeyaadah had a half-length on Joan of Arc, who was followed by longshot Technique, Empress Josephine home fifth, and favored Audarya last of six.
The Goodwood course was labeled “good to soft” but the horses churned up swathes of grass that looked like shag carpet, and the Nassau was run in a slow 2:08.94. It seems likely that 2020 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf heroine Audarya, who couldn’t accelerate properly, very much disliked the going.
Five-year-old Lady Bowthorpe not only drew away in the late stages, she did so while giving nine pounds to the trio of 3-year-olds behind her. In her fourth season of racing, Lady Bowthorpe is by Nathaniel out of Maglietta Fina, by Verglas.