Homeless Songs Storms to Irish One Thousand Guineas Win

Homeless Songs  produced a scintillating performance under Chris Hayes to give Dermot Weld his fifth Irish One Thousand Guineas (G1), with the daughter of Frankel  sprinting away from her opponents in the final furlong in winning the Tattersalls-sponsored 2022 edition by 5 1/2 lengths at the Curragh.

It was Weld's 20th Irish classic in a season in which the string has been very slow to come to hand, with one winner in March, one in April, and prior to this, one in May. Homeless Songs provided the stable with its sole winner in April, in the Leopardstown One Thousand Guineas Trial, and the temptations of Newmarket and Longchamp were bypassed to stay close to home instead.

It was a decision that could not have worked out any better. All through the race, the eye was drawn to how well Homeless Songs was traveling under Hayes, and the turn of foot she showed to get to the front was of the highest class. She was cut to 9-4 joint-favoritism from 8-1 by Paddy Power for the Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot in the wake of this performance.

Weld said: "Every classic is very special, and every classic is very difficult to win. She is a very special filly. I have won this race with a number of good fillies and she rates right up there.

"My main concern coming in here was whether she could carry that speed over a mile, but she relaxed beautifully for Chris and he gave her the most perfect ride. We'll see how she comes out of this race, but the Coronation Stakes would have to be a definite possibility."

Hayes previously partnered Search For A Song  to win the 2019 Comer Group International Irish St. Leger (G1) for Weld and owners Moyglare Stud Farm. "She's an amazing filly," Hayes said of Homeless Songs. "I rode her in a bit of work last year and thought she was the nicest 2-year-old I had ridden all year. I was delighted to get the call to ride her and am very grateful to Mr. Weld and all the team at Rosewell.

"The horses have not really been hitting the boards this year, but they are getting there, and maybe this is the turning point."

He added: "We were drawn on the best of the ground. She has an extraordinary turn of foot, and the last thing I needed was to be looking for gaps. She enjoys having a bit of room and you saw what she can do. My only concern was getting a clean run of things. She is a special filly."

The supporting cast had no chance with the winner, but good races were run by several of them. Aidan O'Brien saddled the second and third. The 11-4 favorite Tuesday  went one place better than her third in the One Thousand Guineas (G1) at Newmarket, while third-home Concert Hall  ran a solid trial for the Cazoo Oaks (G1) as she stayed on well close home.

O'Brien said: "They ran good races and just ran into one. Tuesday ran a lovely race. We'll see where we are but we might look at Epsom with her. Concert Hall came home well. We'll see how she comes out of the race, but there is a very strong possibility she will go to Epsom."