O'Brien sweeps exacta in Fillies’ Mile

Rhododendron and Hydrangea gave trainer Aidan O’Brien a sweep of the first two positions in Friday’s $661,860 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket Racecourse, the second time in recent weeks that the Irish trainer has finished first and second in a Group 1 for 2-year-old fillies in England.

On Sept. 24, the O’Brien-trained Brave Anna and Roly Poly were first and second in the Cheveley Park Stakes at six furlongs at Newmarket.

O’Brien said after the Fillies’ Mile that Rhododendron and Hydrangea will be considered for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 4.

In the Fillies’ Mile, Rhododendron, the 5-2 co-favorite, finished 2 1/4 lengths in front of Hydrangea, a 4-1 shot.

Rhododendron rallied from the back of a field of eight and took the lead with more than a furlong remaining. Urban Fox, a 40-1 outsider, finished third. Sobetsu, the 5-2 co-favorite, finished fifth in her graded stakes debut.

Ryan Moore rode Rhododendron for owners Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith.

Rhododendron, by Galileo, has won 3 of 5 starts. She won the Group 2 Debutante Stakes at The Curragh in Ireland in August and was third in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh on Sept. 11. Intricately, trained by O’Brien’s son Joseph, won the Moyglare Stud Stakes and is a candidate for the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf.

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