Chinese White

Chinese White was really impressive when winning a nine-furlong listed event at Gowran Park last Sunday. She travelled well in the early stages, towards the outside, tracking the leaders, travelled nicely into the home straight, eased to the front and responded well to her jockey’s urgings to go three lengths clear and win readily, with She’s Our Mark staying on well to take second.

It was a good start to the season from Dermot Weld’s mare, she was by far the best horse in the race on the day. Although this was not a world-beating performance, She’s Our Mark is a useful yardstick, she won the Alleged Stakes at The Curragh on her previous start and she obviously had race fitness on her side. It is perhaps more telling to contrast this race with last year’s event, where under similar conditions Pat Flynn’s mare, with fitness on her side as well, beat Chinese White by a head. Lady O’Reilly’s mare went on to beat She’s Our Mark twice after that during a highly successful season. She won a Group 3 at the Curragh impressively before going on to take the Group 2 Blandford Stakes at the same track in September. She was disappointing when favourite for a Group 1 event in Italy on her last run, but you can easily forgive a filly her final run of the season at the end of October after travelling half way across Europe.

It is testament to her improvement through last year that she was able to beat She’s Our Mark so easily here on her first run this time around suggesting she could be a major player in Group 1 events later in the year. She is in-foal to Cape Cross, and it may be that, as with a lot of mares, she will show improved form as she races in-foal. She is versatile when it comes to ground, she was won impressively on heavy ground as well as on good to firm. The Pretty Polly at the Curragh is her apparent target now and, given that she has won a Group 2 race over the Pretty Polly course and distance, and that she has only been beaten once in three runs at The Curragh (when she finished fourth in the 2008 Irish Oaks), she could be a major player in that race.

3rd May 2010