By Sean Cronin
Coolmore's Heavens Gate (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}–Itqaan, by Danzig), with a half-dozen prior outings under her belt, was the most experienced of nine contenders entering Sunday's G3 Weld Park Stakes at the Curragh and her ringcraft was a telling factor in the seven-furlong contest as she delivered a display of power to claim a career high.
She had previously hit the board in the G3 Albany Stakes and G2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes and annexed a valuable pot at Naas in her penultimate start before running fourth in York's G2 Lowther Stakes last time. Sent postward as the 11-8 favourite here, Heavens Gate settled into smooth rhythm, tracking the leaders in fifth, through the early fractions. Shaken up in traffic passing the quarter-mile marker, she charted a passage to the front approaching the furlong pole and came under a late drive to withstand the ominous late threat of Fiery Lucy (GB) (Without Parole {GB}) by a neck. Useful yardstick Barnavara (Ire) (Calyx {GB}) finished 1 1/4 lengths adrift in third.
“She's a lovely filly and she's been working very well,” said Aidan O'Brien after matching John Oxx's record haul of seven renewals. “She was pitched in a load of times this year, but never up to seven [furlongs] before. We always felt that, when she stepped up to seven, she'd be way more classy. Ryan [Moore] said she relaxed and dropped in. She quickened, she got there very easy and just waited in front. When I asked Ryan if she would get a mile, he thought she would. Being by Churchill, I imagine she should get a mile. She could be a filly for the [GI] Breeders' Cup Juvenile [Fillies Turf]. She is a lovely quality of filly and she's a big, strong filly that quickens very well.”
Pedigree Notes
Heavens Gate, who becomes the 15th pattern-race winner for her sire, is the latest of 10 foals and one of six scorers produced by a winning full-sister to G3 Cumberland Lodge Stakes victor and G1 Champion Stakes-placed sire Mawatheeq (Danzig). The February-foaled bay's dam Itqaan (Danzig) is also a half-sister to G1 1000 Guineas and G1 Coronation Stakes heroine Ghanaati (Giant's Causeway) and stakes-winning G1 Oaks third Runoush (Rahy). Heavens Gate third dam is multiple Group-winning matriarch Height Of Fashion (Fr) (Bustino {GB}).
🏆🔵🟠
Heavens Gate (Churchill) claims black-type success for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore to win the Group 3 Weld Park Stakes @curraghrace 👏
A treble on the card for team @Ballydoyle 🤩 pic.twitter.com/6gkevCsrrL
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 29, 2024
Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
WELD PARK STAKES-G3, €63,250, Curragh, 9-29, 2yo, f, 7fT, 1:30.15, gd.
1–HEAVENS GATE (IRE), 128, f, 2, by Churchill (Ire)
1st Dam: Itqaan, by Danzig
2nd Dam: Sarayir, by Mr. Prospector
3rd Dam: Height of Fashion (Fr), by Bustino (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier; B-Whisperview Trading Ltd (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €33,000. Lifetime Record: MGSP-Eng, 7-3-1-2, $267,170. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Fiery Lucy (GB), 128, f, 2, Without Parole (GB)–Craighall (GB), by Dubawi (Ire). (38,000gns Ylg '23 TATOCT). O-Lindsay Laroche & Dunphy Family Syndicate; B-Whatton Manor Stud (GB); T-Gavin Cromwell. €11,000.
3–Barnavara (Ire), 128, f, 2, Calyx (GB)–Alfea (GB), by Kentucky Dynamite. (€70,000 Ylg '23 GOFOR). O-Alpha Racing; B-Andriy Milovonov & Viktor Tymoshenko (IRE); T-Jessica Harrington. €5,500.
Margins: NK, 1 1/4, HD. Odds: 1.38, 8.00, 2.25.
Also Ran: California Dreamer (GB), Merrily, Mojave River (Fr), Sigh No More (Ire), Greatest Drama (Ire), Alla Stella (GB). Scratched: And So To Bed (Ire).
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