Kissable

This year’s renewal of the Moyglare Stud Stakes at The Curragh on Sunday looked like a high quality one beforehand, and it looks even better now in hindsight. The first four home – Misty For Me, Laughing Lashes, Kissable and Together – dominated throughout, they occupied the first four positions from early and they had a clear break on the rest of the field from fully five furlongs out, a break they never looked likely to relinquish. The time of the race was top class for juvenile fillies, just 0.15secs/furlong slower than standard on ground that the rest of the times on the day suggest was good, not the official good to firm, and the second fastest comparative time overall on the day, second only to the Group 3 sprint.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see all four fillies progress significantly from this, but the one to take out of the race for me was third-placed Kissable. Lady O’Reilly’s filly was the first of the four fillies to come off the bridle. Indeed, it looked at the three-furlong pole when the pace quickened as if she might be swamped and might not be involved in the finish at all, as the other three fillies appeared to be travelling better. However, the further they went the stronger the Kevin Prendergast filly seemed to get, and she stayed on best of all through the final 200 yards to catch Together for third place and get to within a neck of the runner-up Laughing Lashes, a length behind the winner, and she was in front 100 yard after the winning post.

The daughter of Danehill Dancer has run just four times now. On her previous run, in the Group 3 Silver Flash Stakes at Leopardstown in July (after which she was mentioned here), she did finish just third, three lengths behind Together and two lengths behind Laughing Lashes, but she was caught for room just as they quickened at the top of the home straight that day, and she actually did well to stay on to finish as close as she did. All last week, Prendergast said that he was hoping that it would rain a little, that a little bit of a cut in the ground would be in his filly’s favour. The rain didn’t arrive in any great quantity but, you have to think that, if it had, given the manner in which she stayed on, Kissable would have gone mighty close to winning. By Danehill Dancer out of the Sadler’s Wells mare Kitty O’Shea (herself a full-sister to St Leger winner Brian Boru), her full-brother Kingdom Of Munster won his maiden on heavy ground at Tipperary, so you have to think that Kissable will progress again for easier ground and for a greater test of stamina. As a Tattersalls graduate, she is in all the valuable sales races between now and the end of the season, but she would be of big interest if she took up her engagement in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Ascot at the end of September, especially if the ground were to come up on the easy side at Ascot on the day.

29th August 2010

© The Irish Field, 4th September 2010