GOODWOOD, ENGLAND // Whatever you can do I can do better.
Minding and Songbird are the two outstanding three-year-old fillies in the world at this stage of the season, and in Saturday’s Nassau Stakes, Irish filly Minding is in the perfect position to pick up the gauntlet thrown down by Songbird in America last week.
Prior to Songbird’s facile victory in the Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga, both fillies were placed alongside each other in 20th place in the world thoroughbred rankings.
Songbird took her record to a flawless nine from nine last Sunday, and although Minding has suffered three defeats during her nine-race career, she has the more adventurous profile.
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Minding, who will once again be ridden by Ryan Moore, has been presented with a drop kick in Saturday’s Group 1 contest, which will be her 10th career outing.
Godolphin’s Beautiful Romance is one of just four rivals in the £600,000 (Dh2.9 million) race, staged over just shy of 2000 metres. It will be the third different distance the daughter of Galileo has raced over this season, having won the English Guineas over 1,600 metres, the English Oaks over 2,400 metres and the Pretty Polly Stakes over 2,000 metres last month at the Curragh.
Alongside her victory in the Moyglare Stud Stakes over 1,400 metres, Minding therefore is not only the most successful filly O’Brien has ever trained, with five wins at the highest level, but also possibly his most versatile.
In contrast, Songbird has raced almost exclusively over 1,600 metres this season, stepping up to 1800 metres last time at Saratoga.
“I’m not sure what her best distance is,” O’Brien said of Minding. “We know that she has the pace for the top league at a mile and we know she gets a mile and a half. She’s also comfortable in between at a mile and quarter, which is lovely. It’s very unusual to be so adaptable. She’s progressing with every run and is a very strong traveller.”
Both Minding and Songbird may well be blazing a trail for their age groups on either side of the Atlantic, but neither is likely to ever have the opportunity to achieve the durability displayed by Beholder. The six-year-old mare warms up for her date with California Chrome and Dortmund in next month’s Pacific Classic by defending her tiara in the Grade One Clement L Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Sunday.
Beholder also has scared away the opposition, and faces four rivals that includes Stellar Wind, whom she beat by a length and a half in the Grade 1 Vanity Mile Stakes at Santa Anita last month.
Take Cover, Washington DC and Goldream are all set to reoppose in next month’s Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes after battling out the finish to the King George V Stakes here on Thursday.
Take Cover blazed a trail under jockey David Allan and although Washington DC and Goldream were bearing down on him 200 metres from the finish the son of 1997 Dubai World Cup winner Singspiel kept on for the nine-year-old’s second win in the Group Two sprint.
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