Tarawa

Tarawa kept on well to take second place behind Zarinsk in the Guineas Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday. Settled towards the rear of the field early on by Billy Lee behind a decent pace that Zarinsk set, she moved into her race nicely. She travelled well into the home straight, and she picked up well when her rider asked her to. She just couldn’t catch Zarinsk, who made all the running, but she stayed on willingly through the final furlong, going down by just over a length in the end.

It was a really likeable performance by Dermot Weld’s filly on just her third ever run. Winner of her maiden on soft ground at Leopardstown last October, this was her first run since, and she kept on well to get close to a talented and progressive rival who had had a run this season in a race that was run in a good time, over two and a half seconds faster than the time that Zarinsk’s five-year-old stable companion Power Under Me clocked in winning the Group 3 Amethyst Stakes run over the same course and distance 35 minutes later. She was a little weak in the market too, and her trainer’s horses are just starting to hit form now, and she is really lightly raced, so she could come forward a fair bit for this run. She holds some lofty entries, and she will be of interest wherever she goes now.
Leopardstown, 7^th May 2023