By Tom Frary
At the culmination of the battle of the Ballydoyle starlets in Sunday's G1 Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas, there was a dramatic if not entirely unexpected turnaround of this month's Newmarket Classic form as Precise (Starspangledbanner) held sway in some style at The Curragh.
As last year's Fillies' Mile and Moyglare winner swooped on True Love (No Nay Never) en route to an emphatic 2 1/2-length success, she put her 1,000 Guineas eclipse firmly behind her to complete a remarkable weekend Classic double for her initially subfertile sire and make it a dozen renewals for Aidan O'Brien of the Classic that was his first back in 1997.
The Ballydoyle handler has for some time found it necessary to express the exalted regard in which he holds the winner, bred by his family's Whisperview Trading operation, and he was not about to stop here. “She is a serious one and is as good as we've had,” he declared.
A first Irish Classic winner under the Whisperview banner, Precise was adding that extra dimension to the post-race celebrations that are so customary for the master of Rosegreen. “It's very special,” he said. “It's next to impossible to breed a Classic winner, so when it happens it's a dream. Ana and Anthony and all the lads at home do all the work and they've been very patient with all the family. It's very exciting and I'm delighted for everyone.”
Wind back two months and this would have been the outcome all would have expected, with Precise coming out of the winter the dominant force among the Ballydoyle miling fillies and True Love almost a bonus. It was during O'Brien's Press Day in March that he described this winner as an “incredible filly”, but while she entered the Newmarket Classic slightly undercooked due to a setback her stablemate came in fully tuned and confounded a good few skeptics.
While Lordan had the roll of the dice that day, Moore felt the inevitable draw to the one with the recent Classic success in the bag but there must have been a large part of his soul that knew this could happen. As the weekend unfolded, it looked as if Coolmore's number one had the midas touch and in this kind of form saw to it that the Guineas winner went off at cramped odds of 4-6.
With his irresistible momentum abruptly stopped on the previous race's disappointment Minnie Hauk, there was further pain for Moore as he was left with just the consolation prize of True Love mastering Abashiri (Frankel) by half a length against the far rail as the 4-1 second favourite unleashed that electric acceleration out wide.
This was last year's Precise, travelling with real zest waited with in the centre of the track as the field split into two groups before scything down her stablemate to come good three weeks on from her relaunch. Being second choice at Ballydoyle is still one of the most sought-after jobs in racing, but even Wayne Lordan must be marvelling at the remarkable twist of fate that saw him claim a second Guineas this month.
“We knew there was massive improvement to come from Newmarket, but in all fairness to poor Ryan it was very difficult and he had to ride True Love this time,” O'Brien added. “He didn't ride her in Newmarket, because we weren't sure she would get a mile but she did. Precise really stepped forward today and Wayne gave her a beautiful ride.”
“Roger [Quinlan], who rides her every day, said to me this morning 'this filly has improved so much. it's hard to believe' and she was only beaten five lengths at Newmarket which isn't that much for this type of filly. Ryan was on the other side at Newmarket and was further back than they should have been, so he moved early and because she needed the run she got a little bit tired.”
With the Irish Guineas in safe keeping, Precise will head to Epsom to bid to emulate the yard's Imagine who took this in 2001 before adding the Oaks to her tally. “We came here thinking it was possible that Precise could go on to Epsom in two weeks and that would be another difficult decision for Ryan with Amelia Earhart there,” O'Brien explained.
“Will she get a mile and a half? You don't know until you try it, but she's out a Galileo mare with a lot of stamina in her pedigree and Wayne said that she ran through the line there. Ryan felt True Love's stamina just ran out over this stiff mile and she could go to the Coronation.”
Charlie Appleby's weekend proved fruitful, even without the much-desired Classic win, and Abashiri was becoming the third Guineas-placed runner for the stable. “I was delighted with her run and it's probably a question of whether we head to the Coronation Stakes or look elsewhere,” he said. “It was a very pleasing effort and we can hopefully pick up a decent race over the coming months.”
PRECISE 💜
Classic redemption in the Irish 1,000 Guineas 🏆@Tattersalls1766 | @curraghrace pic.twitter.com/jEO1zwUHUt
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 24, 2026
Pedigree Notes
Precise's dam Way To My Heart (Galileo) is a full-sister to three black-type performers headed by the Listed Dee Stakes winner and Irish Derby runner-up Kingfisher who had the stamina to also run second in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. The second dam is the Listed Ruby Stakes scorer and G3 Solonaway Stakes-placed Mystical Lady (Halling), in turn kin to the G3 Leopardstown 2,000 Guineas Trial winner and Poule d'Essai des Poulains-placed Furner's Green (Dylan Thomas).
Another of Mystical Lady's half-siblings is the Listed scorer Palace (Fastnet Rock), who produced a pair of Beresford winners by Galileo in the strong-staying High Definition and Innisfree with the former also placing in the Coronation Cup over the Derby and Oaks course and distance. The fourth dam is the luminary Sonic Lady (Nureyev), who captured this Classic in 1986 as well as the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp and Sussex Stakes. Way To My Heart's two-year-old colt Raging Bull and yearling filly are by Wootton Bassett.
Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
TATTERSALLS IRISH 1000 GUINEAS-G1, €500,000, Curragh, 5-24, 3yo, f, 8fT, 1:36.98, gd.
1–PRECISE (IRE), 128, f, 3, 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
O-Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Westerberg; B-Whisperview Trading Ltd; T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Wayne Lordan. €290,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Eng, 7-5-1-0, $1,090,101. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–True Love (Ire), 128, f, 3, No Nay Never–Alluringly, by Fastnet Rock (Aus). O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier; B-Coolmore; T-Aidan O'Brien. €100,000.
3–Abashiri (GB), 128, f, 3, Frankel (GB)–Sobetsu (GB), by Dubawi (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE; 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Godolphin; T-Charlie Appleby. €50,000.
Margins: 2HF, HF, 2 3/4. Odds: 4.00, 0.67, 6.00.
Also Ran: Black Caviar Gold (Ire), Kensington Lane (Ire), Beautify (Ire), Sinmara (GB), Pivotal Attack (GB), Hope Queen (Ire), Magny Cours (Ire), Sukanya (GB). Scratched: America Queen (Ire).
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