Beo bounds to Guineas glory
Finsceal Beo looked different class to her rivals with a brilliant victory in the Stan James 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.
The red-hot 5-4 favourite, trained by Jim Bolger and ridden by Kevin Manning, led two furlongs out and ran right away from the opposition.
She went on to score by two and a half lengths from another Irish challenger Arch Swing (10-1), with Simply Perfect (9-1) third.
Although a breakaway group of six started to race on the far side, they gradually joined the others towards the stands rail as Scarlet Runner and Fantasy Parkes took the field along in the early stages.
Finsceal Beo made significant progress at halfway and was ridden with great confidence by Manning, who used both her speed and stamina to stamp her authority on the fillies’ Classic.
Arch Swing came out of the pack to make her bid but Mick Kinane’s mount could never get near enough to put in a serious challenge.
Co Carlow-based handler Bolger was gaining compensation for the late defection from Saturday's 2000 Guineas of his star colt Teofilo.
He told Channel 4 Racing: “It’s a pretty good feeling and I’m delighted for everybody concerned. I've put so much work into this filly and into all the horses in the yard. This one is down to my staff and the owner, Michael Ryan.”
Manning said: “There was never a bother. I was little bit closer than I wanted to be, but she was carrying me there. She’s done that very easily.”
Ryan added: “This is absolutely fantastic, my first Classic. There are 36 of us who have come over from Ireland for this. Jim Bolger is a super trainer and always has been.”
