Tarawa

Tarawa put up a nice performance in winning the Group 3 Snow Fairy Stakes at The Curragh on Saturday. Settled nicely by Chris Hayes through the early stages of the race behind the pace-setter Unreasonable, the Aga Khan’s filly moved up on the outside of the leader and hit the front at the two-furlong marker. She didn’t stretch away from her rivals at that point, but she was always holding them, and she left the impression that she was only doing as much as she needed to do. She had a two-length break on her rivals as they passed the furlong marker, that was reduced to just over a length by the time she got to the winning line, but it never really looked like her rivals were getting to her, and it is probable that she had a fair bit more in hand than the winning margin.

It was a nice performance by Dermot Weld’s filly, a nice bounce back to form. Fourth behind her stable companion Tahiyra in the Irish 1000 Guineas last season, she was impressive in winning the Listed Glencairn Stakes at Leopardstown on her second run this season, and this was probably a step up again on that. This nine-furlong trip is a good trip for her, and she handles soft ground as well as this good fastish ground, which will probably be an asset to take into the autumn. The Denny Cordell Lavarack run over nine and a half furlongs at Gowran Park later in September would be a good race for her.

The Curragh, 31^st August 2024