'Unusual' has slipped seamlessly into the Aidan O'Brien lexicon this season. The trainer reached for the word again in the winner's enclosure at Newmarket on Sept. 28 after Lake Victoria stretched her unbeaten record to four when winning her second group 1 in the Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) at Newmarket.
We have already heard how unusual City of Troy is, certainly those with an eye and an ear on Southwell last week heard the term uttered not only by O'Brien but by the more taciturn Ryan Moore after the horse's public gallop. His opportunity to showcase his rare qualities will come in California when he attempts to become the first Derby winner to land the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on the dirt at Del Mar.
Lake Victoria could yet join City of Troy in traveling to America for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, (G1T) but she could also return to Britain in a fortnight for the Fillies' Mile (G1) at Newmarket. Her presence in the One Thousand Guineas (G1) at the course next year looks a certainty.
Lake Victoria even running in the race was an unusual move on the surface, with the filly having won the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) over a furlong further on her previous outing. She had also been successful over seven furlongs in the Sweet Solera Stakes (G2) at the July course during the summer.
However, Lake Victoria was back in distance and in no way inconvenienced as she traveled powerfully through the race before surging clear out of the dip to win by three lengths from Daylight and Arabian Dusk, who is likely to be targeted at the Fred Darling Stakes next year.
"We always thought before the Moyglare that the plan was to come back here as she's always been very quick," O'Brien said. "She's a very talented filly and Ryan said that we should come back here for the Fillies' Mile; we'll see what the lads want to do."
O'Brien chuckled as he relayed his jockey's debrief, and reasserted "that's what he told me!"—the flexibility to move up and down in distance at will with Lake Victoria seemingly even sounding faintly ridiculous to the trainer.
With such talent at his disposal among his fillies this year it would be no surprise to see O'Brien and the Coolmore partners take a bold approach with Lake Victoria, as they can call on Bedtime Story, Fairy Godmother, Bubbling, and Dreamy as well in 2025.
When and where Lake Victoria runs again will be left open, but it could be pretty much anywhere those connected with the filly wish to go. The one caveat potentially being whether they wish to contest three group 1s in four weeks.
O'Brien said: "It's very rare to do what she did, it's unusual. Ryan kept it simple on her and we'll let her tell us what to do next. We did back her up quite quickly for this and there's always a risk doing that again."
Lake Victoria - different gear in the G1 Cheveley Park
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 28, 2024
🏇 Four runs
🥇 Four wins
🏆 G1 Cheveley Park Stakes
🏆 G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes
5️⃣ A record-breaking fifth win in the race for Aidan O'Brien pic.twitter.com/LNPJGmobCr
Shadow Of Light Shades Whistlejacket in Middle Park Stakes
Charlie Appleby gave Godolphin their third group 1 in a week when Shadow Of Light put his rivals in the shade in the Middle Park Stakes (G1), a race that provided the trainer with his breakthrough success at the highest level 10 years ago with Charming Thought.
All the chat beforehand was about Whistlejacket, who started at 4-5 to try to give Aidan O'Brien a remarkable eighth win in the Juddmonte-sponsored contest. However, he had no answer to the finishing kick of Shadow Of Light, who had the race won when William Buick fired him into the dip before going clear to win by four lengths from the favorite.
The winner has the Middle Park in his genes, being three-parts brother to Earthlight, who won the six-furlong contest in the all-blue in 2019 and is a now a first-season sire for the operation at Kildangan Stud in Ireland.
Shadow Of Light's success came six days after Rebel's Romance won the Preis von Europa (G1) for Appleby, while Godolphin also struck at the highest level in Australia on Saturday when Broadsiding won the Golden Rose (G1) at Rosehill.
Appleby said of Shadow Of Light: "He's got a pedigree for a race like this and we were very happy going into the race. It's a big step up from a maiden and then a novice going into a group 2 like the Gimcrack last time. He gained a lot of education from that race and we came here with confidence we had more the finished article.
"We were confident he would handle the ground. We took him out of Newbury last week because of the ground but that was a different scenario as it was heavy. This ground was drying all the time and Earthlight handled soft ground so his pedigree suggested he would handle it."
The son of Lope De Vega was having just his fourth outing and Appleby said of the future: "We'll stick to what it looks like he's good at, which is sprinting."
Buick said: "It was a comprehensive win in the end—he was impressive. He's been showing us at home that he had improved and he's been taking his racing really well. The unknown was the ground obviously, but it was the same for all the others and I'm delighted with him as he's a very talented horse."
Godolphin managing director Hugh Anderson said: "Charlie has always said he had some nice 2-year-olds to come such as Ancient Truth in the Dewhurst, Desert Flower in the Fillies' Mile as well as the juveniles in America. Hopefully, we should be in a good position to have a strong end to the season."
Shadow Of Light leaves his rivals chasing shadows, striding clear in the @JuddmonteFilms Middle Park Stakes, as @WilliamBuickX and Charlie Appleby team up for success once again 🔥 pic.twitter.com/RIFUV55NYq
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) September 28, 2024
