Some of the best female milers in Europe come together in the Group 1 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday, with multiple Group 1 winner Tahiyra heading the betting.
Second in the 1000 Guineas back in May, Tahiyra has gone from strength to strength since, recording a Classic victory in the Irish 1000 Guineas. She cemented her position as one of the best three-year-old fillies in training with a win in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot and will benefit from a three pound weight allowance against older fillies and mares for the first time. The Dermot Weld-trained filly has been ridden by Chris Hayes in all of her five career starts and he was keen to be reunited with his star:
"I'm looking forward to it, we haven't seen her since Royal Ascot so I'd be looking forward to her lining up.
"Hopefully the ground will be nice and I suppose we've an adequate draw – she's drawn fairly low [stall four of 13]. I haven't gone through it in great detail yet but I presume with that amount of runners there should be a decent level of pace, so fingers crossed.
"She just finds everything so easy – she finds going fast easy, she finds going slow easy and there are no issues or anything with her.
"She hasn't run in a while so she'll obviously come and improve as her autumn campaign progresses, but she's definitely ready to start and put her best foot forward, so hopefully we can get the right result and go forward from there."
Tahiyra's main opposition appears to be stablemate Homeless Songs, who won last year's Irish 1000 Guineas and has not been seen on the racetrack since her seasonal reappearance in April. She was ridden by Chris Hayes when second in the Listed Heritage Stakes behind Buckaroo and will be partnered by Oisin Murphy for the first time in the Matron Stakes.
"Homeless Songs is in good shape," said owner MoyglareStud's Fiona Craig.
"She might be a week or two short and if Leopardstown don't water and it stays as hot and sunny as this and the ground is fast she probably won't run, but she's declared and we'll just see."
Homeless Songs will be joined by Just Beautiful, who was bought by Moyglare Stud in April 2022 and moved from Ivan Furtado to Paddy Twomey. The five-year-old has produced mixed results since, but bounced back to winning ways when landing the Group 2 Landwade Stud Stakes at the Curragh over a mile.
"Just Beautiful loves fast ground. She got a splint after we bought her and it's taken a while to get her right, but her last run was her first run on fast ground for us and she did it well," added Craig.
"She will suit Leopardstown and Paddy has been training her for this for quite a long time."
Elsewhere in the field, it is worth noting that Aidan O'Brien has applied first time blinkers to Meditate who has been unable to uphold the form of her Irish 1000 Guineas second behind Tahiyra in two starts since. Tom Clover travels over from the UK with Royal Ascot heroine Rogue Millenium, who may not have enjoyed the softer ground when disappointing in the Group 1 Prix Rothschild on her latest outing.
Ger Lyons is represented by Zarinsk, who will also benefit from the three-year-old filly weight allowance in her search for a hat-trick. After finishing a well-beaten third in the Group 3 Irish 1000 Guineas trial in early April, connections have chosen to pitch her against older fillies and mares rather than the Classic route. The daughter of Kodiac returns to a mile following victories in the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes and the Group 2 Minstrel Stakes, having landed the Group 3 Cornelscourt Stakes over this distance in May. At the current prices (9/1), Zarinsk appears the best-value bet against Tahiyra in a competitive renewal of the Matron Stakes.
WIN: ZARINSK
