Juddmonte homebred Joyeuse, an Oasis Dream half-sister to superstar Frankel,
made her keenly anticipated debut Tuesday at Lingfield and made short work of
the competition winning by 3 1/4 lengths. Just off the early lead, the bay
gained command with three-sixteenths to run without being asked by jockey Tom
Queally and drew clear easily.
“Any winning filly is nice, but that was great,” Juddmonte Racing Manager
Teddy Grimthorpe told Racing Post. “With a filly like this, you are
always a bit apprehensive, as the weight of expectation is so enormous. The
great thing is she settled pretty nicely. She had a bit of a look when she came
through but then went on to win the race quite comfortably.”
As for where the filly could start next, Grimthorpe added, “She looked pretty
comfortable at this trip and, whether (trainer) Henry (Cecil) would want to step
her up to seven furlongs, I don’t know. We’ve talked about the (Group 3) Albany
Stakes (at Royal Ascot June 21), but we’ll have to see how she comes back from
this.”
Queally was impressed with the effort and sees improvement ahead.
“I was happy with the way she did it,” Queally said. “The ground was on the
slow side and better ground would bring out more in her. She was green in the
preliminaries, but she was very professional in the race and went about her
business nicely. I’m sure better races lie ahead.”
Joyeuse is the fifth foal, and first filly, out of multiple stakes winner and
group-placed Kind. In addition to the unbeaten Frankel, she is a half to group
winners Bullet Train and Noble Mission. Barren to Galileo in 2012, she produced
a colt by the Coolmore stallion this year.
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