Homecoming Queen seals Coolmore Guineas double in awesome style

Homecoming Queen leaves her rivals toiling in her wake in today’s QIPCO 1000 Guineas. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Homecoming Queen put up a Frankel-like performance in the hands of Ryan Moore to blitz her rivals in this afternoon’s QIPCO 1000 Guineas, leading all the way and kicking clear over a furlong out to win by a staggering nine lengths in a time that was two seconds faster than the colts achieved in yesterday’s QIPCO 2000 Guineas.

In so doing, she gave trainer Aidan O’Brien his second Guineas double following Camelot’s victory in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas yesterday. He achieved the same feat with Footstepsinthesand and Virginia Waters in 2005.

Starscope, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Jimmy Fortune, was second, with Aidan O’Brien’s other runner, the hot favourite Maybe ridden by his son Joseph, a length away in third place.

The master of Ballydoyle is now the clear early leader in the Trainer of the Series table with 45 points.

O’Brien said: "It’s incredible. She’s a hardy, tough filly with a great pedigree.

"In the last couple of weeks she’s gone into a different zone.

"When Seamus (Heffernan) won on her last year he said she could be very smart. Joseph won a Listed race on her at the Curragh and said she had a massive engine.

"We went to the Breeders’ Cup with her after that but she was entitled to be tired there. She ran first time up at the Curragh when she got a little bit tired, but won nicely at Leopardstown.

"It was an incredible performance and Joseph said she was the filly he was most worried about as she would be going off in front and it was Maybe’s first run.

"I was delighted with Maybe, too."

Ryan Moore, for whom this was a first QIPCO 1000 Guineas victory, said: "Aidan said she was very fit and very well.

"I thought I was going a stride too quick, but she just kept going.

"There’s not much of her, but she tries very hard. She’s very tough."

The race was delayed by 30 minutes after Gray Pearl went down in the starting stalls and had to be put down after damaging her spinal chord. 

Rod Street, Chief Executive of British Champions Series Ltd, said: “It was extremely sad that Gray Pearl suffered an injury in the starting stalls prior to the race and had to be put down.

"That kind of accident is fortunately very rare and everyone involved with the QIPCO British Champions Series extends their sympathies to the filly’s connections.”

To view the full race result, CLICK HERE