Glass House

Glass House did really well to win the big Tattersalls sales race run over six and a half furlongs at The Curragh on Sunday.

Slowly away from stall one, probably 30th best draw in the 30-runner field, Gary Carroll moved the Showcasing filly over a little towards the middle of the track behind horses. Making progress into mid-division at the four-furlong pole, she had moved in behind the leaders by the time they reached the two-furlong pole. Asked for her effort from there, the Qatar Racing filly picked up impressively to catch and pass the leader in the centre Reckless Endeavour, and she kept on gallantly through the final furlong to get the better of the other Qatar Racing filly in the race War Queen, with the pair of them drawing nicely clear.

There really was an awful lot to like about this performance from the Ger Lyons-trained filly. She did well to recover the ground that she lost at the start as quickly as she did. She travelled into the race well, and she showed a really willing attitude, first to get to the front in the centre of the track, and then to get the better of the horses who raced on the stands side.

It is almost always an advantage to race towards the stands side at The Curragh on the straight track when the track is at its widest, as it was on Sunday, unless the ground is really soft. That appeared to be the case again on Sunday in general and in this race in particular. To put it into context, the six horses who followed Glass House home emerged, respectively, from stalls 23, 22, 29, 25, 28 and 30. Glass House emerged from stall one. Also, the eight horses who chased him home all raced in mid-division or better from early. Glass House was the only horse who raced in rear through the early stages of the race and who finished in the first nine. So she probably overcame a draw bias and a pace bias to win by three parts of a length. Also, the winning time was good, comparatively faster than the time that Air Force Blue clocked in winning the National Stakes and only marginally slower than the time that Minding clocked in winning the Moyglare.

This was just Glass House’s second ever run. On her racecourse debut, in a five-furlong maiden at Navan in July, she did well to finish as close as she did in third after missing the break. She didn’t help herself at the start on Sunday either, but she was still better than she had been at Navan, and she should improve again just by getting away on terms.

She should improve again for Sunday’s experience, and she proved there that she can handle easy ground. She will be well worth her place now in a Group race. She is entered in a Group 3 fillies’ race at Ayr on Saturday, and she will be of interest if she takes her chance in that. If she doesn’t, she will be of interest wherever she goes next.

13^th September 2015