So Wonderful

So Wonderful probably put up a career-best in finishing third behind her stable companion Love in the Moyglare Stud Stakes. Settled nicely in mid-division by Seamie Heffernan early on, she didn’t have a lot of racing room at the furlong marker when her rider wanted to go forward, as Love challenged down the outside, and she was a little short of room again close home. She was beaten a total of a length and a half and, with a cleaner run, she would have been closer. She may have beaten Daahyeh for the runner-up spot, and Roger Varian’s filly enhanced the form of this race when she won the Rockfel Stakes last Friday.

It is remarkable that So Wonderful is still a maiden. She hasn’t won in eight attempts, but she had put up some noteworthy performances in defeat even before this: third in the Silver Flash Stakes, second in the Flame Of Tara Stakes, and beaten less than two lengths by Alpine Star in the Debutante Stakes. She remains progressive, this was probably a career-best run. Her dam is Wonder Of Wonders, who won a Cheshire Oaks and finished second in an Epsom Oaks, and she could improve again for a step back up to a mile.

The Curragh, 15^th September 2019