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Aidan O’Brien’s awesome foursome winners of the Nassau Stakes

It’s been a quiet week for Ballydoyle at Glorious Goodwood with no wins on the board, but Aidan O’Brien has a good record in the Nassau Stakes.

O'Brien has won the race for fillies and mares four times in the past 15 years and has a solid chance in the 2021 renewal (3.35pm) with Galileo filly Joan Of Arc.

Planet Sport goes through O'Brien's awesome foursome winners of the one mile two furlong Nassau Stakes at a meeting he is unlikely to remain winless.

Peeping Fawn (2007)

The US bred Peeping Fawn was a quality filly out of Danehill and she warmed up for a tilt at the Nassau with victory in the Irish Oaks at the Curragh.
Starting as 2/1 favourite at Goodwood, Peeping Fawn had plenty of quality opposition in the form of Alain De Royer-Dupre's French raider Mandesha and Sir Henry Cecil's Light Shift.
Johnny Murtagh raced prominently in the orange and blue Tabor and Magnier silks and had the luxury of drawing clear two furlongs out but was made to race by Mandesha for a one and half length victory.
Peeping Fawn was no Bambi on ice, recording a smart time of 2.04.53 on the way to being named Cartier Champion Three Year-Old Filly.

Halfway To Heaven (2008)

Halfway to Heaven's most significant achievement probably came off the racecourse in being dam to wonder-filly Magical but was a decent horse in her own right.
Another top level winner in Ireland, Halfway to Heaven scooped the Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh before taking on the Nassau at Goodwood.
She was taken on by an Irish compatriot in the form of Lush Lashes who had nailed the Coronation Stakes at Ascot in the build up.
That meant Halfway To Heaven went off in the Nassau at a weighty 5/1 with Lush Lashes the even money favourite.
But it was Halfway to Heaven fluttering her lashes in the winning enclosure after a gritty head victory over Jim Bolger's filly. The win showed where Magical got her guts and class from.

Minding (2016)

The 2021 Nassau contender Joan Of Arc, a Galileo filly like Minding, will have to go some to equal the achievements of her stablemate.

Minding had a platinum build up to the 2016 Nassau, winning the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Oaks at Epsom, suggesting a filly at the top of her sex.

Her win at Goodwood was an assertion of sheer class in the Nassau, kicking on in the final furlong for a smooth one and a quarter length win from the Sir Michael Stoute trained Queen's Trust.

Minding went on to win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and was named Cartier Horse Of The Year but it was black type wins in the likes of the prestigious Nassau Stakes which makes Minding such a well regarded animal.

Winter (2017)

O'Brien is such a powerful trainer he can make it Winter in August as he did with this star filly in the 2017 Nassau.

Winter's dam's sire was the Aussie super sprinter Choisir, so there was no shortage of speed in the bloodline.
Indeed, Winter was another who took the 1000 Guineas and the Coronation Stakes going into the Nassau, showing herself as a hot property for the Goodwood fillies' centrepiece.
All six horses were in contention at two furlongs out in the 2017 Nassau but Winter showed ice cool nerves to be the only filly in the frame at the finish line, beating the Andrew Balding trained Blond Me by a solid one and a half lengths.
O'Brien's Nassau wins seem to come in two's and Joan Of Arc will be bidding to get Ballydoyle going again in a race they have done so well in.

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