The Curragh became a theatre of dreams for the little guys of racing on Sunday as Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) managed to do the unthinkable and outrun Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and win the G1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas for the Adrian Keatley stable. Only ninth behind Ballydoyle's best at Newmarket three weeks ago, the bay who had previously taken the Apr. 10 G3 Leopardstown 1000 Guineas Trial S. over seven furlongs on heavy ground was always in the vanguard and after being committed in early straight by Shane Foley kept digging deep to ward off the 4-11 favourite by a head, with 10 lengths back to Now Or Never (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}) in third. “It's a dream come true,” her rider said. “She ran a blinder at Newmarket. The ground was way too firm for her there, but I've been doing a rain dance all week and I'm glad it came. She's just so tough and genuine. The track didn't suit her at Newmarket, but the Curragh suited her every strength today–soft ground, a stiff mile–perfect.”
Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
TATTERSALLS IRISH 1000 GUINEAS-G1, €300,000, CUR, 5-22, 3yo, f, 8fT, 1:42.46, sf.
1–&JET SETTING (IRE), 126, f, 3, by Fast Company (Ire)
1st Dam: Mean Lae (Ire), by Johannesburg
2nd Dam: Plume Rouge (GB), by Pivotal (GB)
3rd Dam: Classic Fan, by Lear Fan
(€7,000 Wlg '13 GOFNOV; 12,000gns 2yo '15 TA15). O-Equinegrowthpartners Syndicate; B-P Kelly (IRE); T-Adrian Keatley; J-Shane Foley. €171,000. Lifetime Record: SP-Fr, 9-3-2-1, $242,473. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Minding (Ire), 126, f, 3, Galileo (Ire)–Lillie Langtry (Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire). O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €60,000.
3–Now Or Never (Ire), 126, f, 3, Bushranger (Ire)–Queenofthefairies (GB), by Pivotal (GB). (10,000gns RNA Ylg '14 TAOCT; £42,000 2yo '15 DONBRE). O-Qatar Racing Ltd; B-Tally Ho Stud (IRE); T-Michael O'Callaghan. €30,000.
Margins: HD, 10, 2 1/4. Odds: 9.00, 0.36, 6.50.
Also Ran: Czabo (GB), Cool Thunder (Ire), Radiantly (GB), Tanaza (Ire), Californiadreaming (Ire), Pretty Perfect (Ire), Coolmore (Ire). Scratched: Anamba (GB), Ashadihan (GB), Diamond Fields (Ire), Turret Rocks (Ire).
Placed second twice in four juvenile starts over sprint trips for the Richard Hannon stable last term, Jet Setting must have had the most inauspicious 2-year-old campaign of all the previous winners of this Classic and amazingly was sold for a minimal 12,000 guineas at Tattersalls in October. Adrian Keatley sent her straight to Chantilly for the Listed Prix Herod in November and she upgraded her profile significantly by finishing third to La Cressonniere (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) when meeting trouble in running in that seven-furlong contest which incredibly featured the winners of the French and Irish Guineas in its tricast. Any thoughts of winning a Classic remained far-fetched even after she had broken her maiden over an extended mile at Cork Mar. 26, but the diminutive bay made a leap forward next time to outgun Now Or Never and the eventual G1 1000 Guineas third Alice Springs (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Leopardstown 1000 Guineas Trial which was understandably seen by her trainer as “her day in the sun.” Supplemented for the 1000 Guineas due to some solid homework, she was nearly nine lengths behind Minding in the backwash there but had much easier ground to aid her for this rematch for which she had to be added once again. Shadowing Ballydoyle's Listed Salsabil S.-winning pacemaker Pretty Perfect (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in second throughout the early stages, she was sent on before halfway and in typically straightforward fashion kept applying the pressure to those in behind. Only Minding could raise a level to match her inside the last quarter mile and with Ryan Moore increasingly animated favourite-backers grew ever more frantic. The pair of fillies with contrasting breeding and backgrounds were in unison with 100 yards left and at that moment the inevitable seemed ready to unfold with Minding claiming a Guineas double but her presence just spurred Jet Setting on to one more lunge at the line and that was enough. “It's a dream,” Keatley said, echoing the immediate thoughts of Shane Foley. “Hopefully this will help us get bigger, better and more competitive so we don't have to keep going to Ayr every Monday! When the rain was forecast we said we'd have a go here and, luckily enough for the lads, it worked out as it was a big call to supplement her again. She did something similar to what she did in Leopardstown. She likes being in front and having daylight around her. I don't know what's next. I didn't look beyond this. She's entered in Ascot [for the June 17 G1 Coronation S], but whether she goes or not I don't know. She probably wouldn't go to Ascot if it was very fast, but if there was a bit of ease she might. We'll consider it and have a look. If she's that good at a mile why would we try and change anything?” Aidan O'Brien believes that Minding might have had an excuse for the defeat. “She hit her head on the stalls before they opened and burst her sinus,” he explained. “Ryan said she anticipated it before the gates opened. Obviously it wasn't an advantage and obviously we're disappointed she got beat, but she ran well. We won't take away from the other filly, though. The winner is a good filly and was very well trained by Adrian. She handles soft ground well. We'll see how she is after that. She had two bits of work to do this week. After Ballydoyle came out the plan was to let her go here and then kick on. She'll get an easy week now and if she's well she could go to Epsom [for the June 3 G1 Oaks].” Jet Setting's dam is out of the black type-winning Plume Rouge, a granddaughter of the G2 Ribblesdale S. heroine Miss Boniface (Ire) (Tap On Wood {Ire}) who was also placed in the GI Selima S. and G1 Prix de la Salamandre. Mean Lae's two full-siblings to Jet Setting are both fillies and this success will bring huge significance to the future of the 2-year-old and yearling. Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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