OH MI!
Her distinguished dam Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) was only third in the G3 Tattersalls Musidora S. in 2008, but Lord Lloyd-Webber's So Mi Dar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) was in a class of her own on York's Knavesmire on Wednesday as she enhanced her reputation further to set up a clash with Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the June 3 G1 Epsom Oaks. Having warmed up for this time-honoured trial with a defeat of the subsequent listed winners Humphrey Bogart (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}) and Viren's Army (Twirling Candy) in Epsom's Investec Derby Trial over 10 furlongs Apr. 20, the homebred kept to the script to justify 4-5 favouritism and pose the biggest threat to Ballydoyle's 1000 Guineas heroine. Like that class leader, So Mi Dar does hold an entry in the Derby and she looked here as if she would not be out of place taking on the colts, especially in view of last year's evidence when the fillies upstaged the best of the other sex on the major stage on more than one occasion. Anchored in rear early by Frankie Dettori, the keen-running bay tanked her way to the front passing the two-furlong pole in a style reminiscent of the Lloyd-Webber's 2012 Musidora winner The Fugue (GB) (Dansili {GB}) before opening up under hand riding to secure an emphatic four-length success from the Guineas fourth Fireglow (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}). “She's got tactical speed, travels and quickens and will stay the distance so she'll give me a good spin around Epsom,” her jockey commented. “Now it's up to Minding, who is very good, but I've got a good one also.” Lady Lloyd-Webber added, “You feel like your luck has run out when you get a good one and will have to wait 10 years for another, but we are very lucky to have these wonderful fillies. I'm so relieved that the hype has been lived up to and she's shown her true colours. We needed her to do it like that to tell us what to do over the next two weeks. The Derby is a longshot and I don't think we should be frightened off by other fillies in the Oaks. She is a nervy filly and gets fit very quickly, so for John [Gosden] it's a case of keeping her calm. She is similar to her mother, but she is more so to her grandmother who was a similar size and they tend to be better as 4-year-olds. We have the added advantage of her being like this as a 3-year-old and it's exciting to be in Oaks contention. We also have the advantage of having been to Epsom. It would be lovely to go for the Oaks, but John will be the boss regarding her Derby entry. She was on sticky, horrid ground at Epsom and fast here, so it looks like she'll go on all ground. They don't get much better than Dar Re Mi, who has a wonderful foal by Dubawi so the story goes on.”
Wednesday, York, Britain
TATTERSALLS MUSIDORA S.-G3, £100,000, YOR, 5-11, 3yo, f, 10f 88yT, 2:09.07, gd.
1–#@SO MI DAR (GB), 126, f, 3, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Dar Re Mi (GB) (Hwt. Older Mare-Eng at 11-14f, G1SW-Eng, Ire & UAE, GSW & G1SPFr, GISP-US, $4,359,112), by Singspiel (Ire)
2nd Dam: Darara (Ire), by Top Ville (Ire)
3rd Dam: Delsy (Fr), by Abdos (Fr)
O-Lord Lloyd-Webber; B-Watership Down Stud (GB); T-John Gosden; J-Lanfranco Dettori. £56,710. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $131,931 *1/2 to De Treville (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), MGSP-Fr, $112,069. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Fireglow (GB), 126, f, 3, Teofilo (Ire)–Fading Light (GB), by King's Best. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum; B-Darley (GB); T-Mark Johnston. £21,500.
3–Promising Run, 130, f, 3, Hard Spun">Hard Spun–Aviacion (Brz), by Know Heights (Ire). O-Godolphin; B-Darley (KY); T-Saeed bin Suroor. £10,760.
Margins: 4, HD, HD. Odds: 0.80, 3.00, 20.00.
Also Ran: Harlequeen (GB), Australian Queen (GB), Light Up Our World (Ire), Best In The World (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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