Winter Freezes the Competition at Goodwood

Winter racked up her fourth straight group 1 win Aug. 3 at Goodwood, where she rallied professionally through the final furlong to win the Qatar Nassau Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths from Blond Me.

 

The Galileo filly, as iron grey as a December sky, tackled older rivals and 10 furlongs for the first time. She also had to cope with soft going after heavy rains pelted the course earlier in the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

 

With Ryan Moore calling the shots for trainer Aidan O'Brien, none of those obstacles proved much of a problem for Winter. She took up post behind Godolphin's chance, Sobetsu, and waited patiently.

 

Given her cue, Winter edged alongside the leader and was in no danger in the late going. Blond Me, always close, was just up to snatch second from Sobetsu in the final yards.

"You never quite know how any horse is going to handle ground like that," Moore said. "It would have blunted her a bit today, but in the end she was well on top. I didn't want it to turn into too much of a slog.

 

"It took a while to get there, but I always knew she would."

Hydrangea, So Mi Dar, and Queen's Trust—winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T)— completed the order of finish. Nezwaah, Shutter Speed, and Wuheida were non-runners over the soft turf.

 

"I was holding my breath all the way, because she was keen in Ryan's hands to start with, and he did a great job to relax her," O'Brien said. "I knew he was going to wait, but when you get to the final two furlongs in that ground, you don't know what's going to happen. She's just very classy."

 

O'Brien said Winter's future is not set in stone. He mentioned the Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron (G1) or the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes (G1), both at Leopardstown Sept. 9, or the Juddmonte International or the Darley Yorkshire Oaks at York in late August, "now that she has won over a mile and a quarter."

 

Winter, owned by the Coolmore partners, is out of the Choisir mare Laddies Poker Two. She started her 3-year-old campaign with a second-place finish in a group 3 event at Leopardstown to her stablemate, Hydrangea.

 

From then, it's been one triumph following the next, as Winter ripped off consecutive wins in the QIPCO 1000 Guineas (G1) at Newmarket, the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas (G1) at the Curragh and the Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot.

 

Another Coolmore filly, Roly Poly, finished second to Winter both at the Curragh and at Ascot. Roly Poly, a War Front   filly, impressively franked the form of those races. She parted company with Winter and went on to victory in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes (G1) at Newmarket and the Prix Rothschild (G1) at Deauville in France.