Homecoming Queen gave trainer Aidan O’Brien a remarkable English Guineas double when she romped in the 1000 Guineas by nine lengths at Newmarket on Sunday.
The race had been delayed by half an hour after Gray Pearl went down in her starting stall and was trapped under the gate. She subsequently had to be put down.
The 25-1 shot’s victory margin was the second biggest in the race’s history – Mayonnaise in 1859 victory by 20 lengths being the biggest – to add to O’Brien’s win in Saturday’s 2000 Guineas with Camelot.
It was the 42-year-old trainer’s second double in the mile (1600m) Classics.
Ryan Moore Homecoming Queen straight out into the lead and instead of coming back to the 16 other runners she simply extended her advantage to come home clear of 33-1 chance Starscope with O’Brien’s 15-8 favourite Maybe suffering her first defeat in finishing third.
The Godolphin operation suffered a humiliating reverse as both their heavily-backed duo Discourse and Lyric of Light were never in the picture and were all but pulled up finishing second last and last.
O’Brien said he had always thought the winner was a progressive type.
“Like her half brother Dylan Thomas (O’Brien’s 2007 Arc de Triomphe winner) she is a progressive type,” O’Brien said.
“She’s a hardy tough filly. But recently she’s gone into a different zone.”
Moore said she had just flourished in the conditions in recording a time which was two seconds faster than Camelot’s win over the same course and distance.
“She’s a little devil as you never know what she’s going to do,” he said.
“There’s not much of her but she’s tough.”
The race had been held up Gray Pearl got into all sorts of difficulties.
It soon became clear her predicament was worse than first thought as she was unable to get back on her feet unaided and an ambulance had to be called to take her away to the nearby Equine Centre.
However, she was diagnosed to have suffered fatal injuries and was put down.
