By Tom Frary
Goodwood's G3 Prestige Fillies' Stakes looked a strong contest on paper beforehand and that ultimately played out as the cream rose to the top with Ballydoyle's Precise (Starspangledbanner) enjoying the bragging rights on Sunday. Sent off the 5-2 second favourite for the seven-furlong race which forms part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, the Cork maiden winner tracked the pace under Wayne Lordan before accelerating impressively to get to the front a furlong out.
Pressed by Cheveley Park Stud's previously unbeaten 13-8 market-leader Moon Target (Cracksman) to the line, she held on to score by 3/4 of a length as Al Shaqab and Amo Racing's exciting Aylin (St Mark's Basilica) finished 1 3/4 lengths away in third. The winner gets an automatic berth in the $1 million John Deere Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
“She's a very professional filly, she ran over six furlongs at Fairyhouse the first day and learned plenty and then stepped up to seven furlongs and won her maiden quite well,” Lordan said. “She has pace and what you like about her is when I get down into her she gets seven quite well.”
“She looked comfortable and when I hit the front about a furlong out she pricked one ear, so she was hanging on to a little bit which is always a nice sign as it shows she wasn't doing the full limit,” he added. “She hit the line well enough, so you would think going up another furlong would be an option as well.”
Sir Mark Prescott said of Moon Target, “I thought there was a lot to be disappointed about, because I hoped she would win. She's a long-striding filly and I just felt little bits and pieces went wrong, I still thought she would beat Aidan's filly a furlong out but she kept on going very well.”
“I always thought early on she was a firm-ground filly and I'm maybe wrong, but she's got a very long action so perhaps Goodwood doesn't suit her as much as Newmarket and Yarmouth and perhaps it's more that than the ground, that's just my theory,” he added. “She will run in the Fillies' Mile probably and hope she can do better there.””
Another day, another Group-race success for @Ballydoyle
This time it's , who holds a raft of sexy entries, in the @VirginBet Prestige Fillies' Stakes @Goodwood_Races
The manner in which he lengthened under pressure must have given @waynemlordan a real kick pic.twitter.com/QkEFdObvju
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 24, 2025
Pedigree Notes
Precise is out of Way To My Heart (Galileo), a full-sister to three black-type performers headed by the Listed Dee Stakes scorer and Irish Derby and Gold Cup-placed Kingfisher. The family includes the G3 2,000 Guineas Trial winner and Poule d'Essai des Poulains-placed Furner's Green (Dylan Thomas), the Irish Oaks-placed Lady Lupus (High Chaparral) and Galileo's G2 Beresford Stakes-winning brothers High Definition and Innisfree. Her yearling son of Wootton Bassett is due to sell at the upcoming Tattersalls October Book 1, while she also has a filly foal by that sire.
Sunday, Goodwood, Britain
VIRGIN BET PRESTIGE FILLIES' STAKES-G3, £80,000, Goodwood, 8-24, 2yo, f, 7fT, 1:26.31, g/f.
1–PRECISE (IRE), 128, f, 2, by Starspangledbanner (Aus)
1st Dam: Way To My Heart (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
2nd Dam: Mystical Lady (Ire), by Halling
3rd Dam: Lady Icarus (GB), by Rainbow Quest
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Westerberg; B-Whisperview Trading Ltd; T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Wayne Lordan. £45,368. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $78,182. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Moon Target (GB), 128, f, 2, Cracksman (GB)–Lunar Corona (GB), by Dansili (GB). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O/B-Cheveley Park Stud Ltd; T-Sir Mark Prescott. £17,200.
3–Aylin (Ire), 128, f, 2, St Mark's Basilica (Fr)–Angelic Light (Ire), by Dark Angel (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. (600,000gns Ylg '24 TATOCT). O-Al Shaqab Racing & Amo Racing Ltd; B-Yeomanstown Stud; T-Karl Burke. £8,608.
Margins: 3/4, 1 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 2.50, 1.63, 7.50.
Also Ran: Sukanya (GB), Spinning Lizzie (GB), Orion's Belt (Ire), Jennifer Jane (Ire). Scratched: Stimulative Trip (Fr).
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