Whirl wires Nassau field at boggy Goodwood
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The 3-year-old filly Whirl beat older horses in the Pretty Polly Stakes last month in Ireland for her first Group 1 win, and she beat them again for her second in the Nassau Stakes on Thursday at Goodwood Racecourse in England.
Racing over heavy ground on a course inundated with torrential Thursday rain, Whirl and Ryan Moore took at lead at the start – which, for safety reasons, and like a jumps race, began with a flag-fall and not a gate – and never relinquished it. Not only could none of her four rivals run Whirl down, she increased her lead from a couple of lengths with a furlong remaining to five at the finish.
Cercene chased Whirl home for second finishing 1 1/4 lengths ahead of third-place See The Fire, who appeared to struggle with the testing conditions.
Not meant for top-class racing last year at age 2, Whirl has risen sharply as a 3-year-old, missing to her victorious stablemate Minnie Hauk in the Oaks at Epsom Downs before these consecutive Group 1 tallies.
The Nassau, contested over 1 1/4 miles, is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, and O’Brien mentioned a trip to Del Mar as one autumn option for Whirl, who also could wind up racing in France, perhaps using the Prix Vermeille as a prep for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Whirl ($3.50 on the American tote) is a daughter of Wootton Bassett and the Galileo mare Salsa. Whirl’s on a two-race Group 1 winning streak, and is sharp enough for 1 1/4 miles but also stays 1 1/2 miles. She handles ground from firm to heavy, and her best days still lie ahead of her.
* Field of Gold, a tepid fourth as the heavy favorite Tuesday in the Group 1 Sussex at Goodwood, came up lame Wednesday morning, co-trainer Thady Gosden told overseas media. Field of Gold, winner of the Irish 2000 Guineas and the St. James’s Palace in his two previous starts, cooled out after his Tuesday race without incident but was found the following morning to be lame in his left-hind leg.
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