SNOWFALL GAVE ANOTHER blistering performance to became the 15th filly to complete the English/Irish Oaks double at the Curragh.
Aidan O’Brien’s filly had blitzed her rivals at Epsom to win by a record margin of 16 lengths and she produced a similar display on home soil in the Juddmonte-sponsored Irish equivalent.
Having scared off a lot of the opposition, Snowfall was the 2-7 favourite and she did not disappoint.
The early running was made by one of her three stablemates, La Joconde, in the eight-runner line-up, with Nicest and Willow close up.
Ryan Moore had Snowfall just off the pace until the field turned for home and it was not long before she made her move – and once she hit the front two furlongs out there was only going to be one outcome.
Snowfall opened up and was simply away and gone from the others, scoring by eight and a half lengths to provide O’Brien with a sixth triumph in the race.
Divinely was second to give the Ballydoyle handler a one-two. Nicest, trained by O’Brien’s son, Donnacha, was half a length away in third.
Snowfall was cut to 4-1 from 5-1 for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Coral and 4-1 from 11-2 with Paddy Power.
O’Brien said: “She’s very smart and she has a lot of quality.
“We purposely let her down a little bit from Epsom because the season is going to roll on and it was soft ground at Epsom.
“The plan was to come here, go on to the Yorkshire Oaks and then she’d be ready for the autumn.
“I’m delighted with her and she’s done very well from Epsom physically, she’s got very big and strong.
“Ryan said she has a lot of speed. She goes very strong and she finishes out very well.
“We’ll go one race at a time now, the Yorkshire Oaks first.”
On her two-year-old form, O’Brien said: “She’s a filly that always had a lot of natural ability and we had to get her to relax a little bit so we didn’t worry too much about it as we were always concentrating on switching her off.
“Things went against her. Her first run was over five and a half furlongs in Navan and Mother Earth was second.
“Then she came back here to a maiden and Seamus (Heffernan) nearly fell off her. That’s why it took a few runs to win a maiden and it might have been a blessing in disguise as she became very mature and grown up from it mentally.
“Because she was busy early in the season it might have took its toll at the end of the season – even though she was perfect mentally, physically she had a good few runs.
“Herself and Mother Earth ran in the Fillies’ Mile and we were nearly siding with her over Mother Earth. That’s what we always thought of her.
“She’s a home-bred for the lads as well, she has some pedigree.
“We always thought fast ground was her thing and I was very worried in Epsom about her with that ground.”
