Tested lands Tipperary’s Group Three pot in superb style

Tested produced a superb display to claim the Coolmore Stud Fairy Bridge Stakes at Tipperary on Thursday evening.

The Khalid Abdullah-owned filly ran amok as the 2/1 joint-favourite in what looked a relatively competitive Group Three over seven and a half furlongs.

Some Spirit (10/1) cut out the early running, with Tested never too far away in the hands of Pat Smullen and fellow joint-favourite Purr Along towards the rear of the field.

The trailblazer creditably stuck to her guns to take second place, but she could not match the finishing burst of the Dermot Weld-trained winner, who held a four-length advantage at the line. Purr Along was a big disappointment for the Johnny Murtagh-Jamie Spencer axis.

High regard

Smullen said: “We’ve always held her in high regard and she’s only really getting it together now.

“Seven furlongs seems ideal for her and hopefully the boss can find options for her.”

Kris Weld, the trainer’s son and assistant, said: “She won very well at Naas, but she enjoyed her break and probably needed the race at Galway, and has come forward again.

“This race was always her target but I don’t know where we go next. She loves the top of the ground and has been improving all year.”

Smullen and Weld were completing a double after the earlier success of Zafilani in the juvenile maiden. The newcomer got up in the closing stages to foil the morning gamble on fellow newcomer Lola Beaux, arriving with his challenge between horses over a furlong from home and going on to score by three-parts of a length.

Kris Weld said afterwards: “He won nicely, he is a fine big horse and he can only improve. We will have to have a look at a Stakes race next.”

Meanwhile, connections of Seismos are set to decide next week whether to give the Geoffrey Freer Stakes winner one more outing before shipping him over to Australia.

The six-year-old, owned by Australian Thoroughbred Bloodstock, is being aimed at the Emirates Melbourne Cup and will either have a run in the Irish St Leger at the Curragh on September 14th or go into quarantine a day earlier and take in a prep Down Under.

"He's in good form. We're very happy with him and is probably in the best form he's been in so far. He looks great," said trainer Marco Botti.

‘Haven’t decided’

“We haven’t decided whether he will go into quarantine for the first shipment to Australia or whether we run him in the Irish St Leger.

"I think we will decide next week which way we go, but the plan is for him to take his chance in the Melbourne Cup.

“It’s just whether he is going to have one more run over here and then just go for the Melbourne Cup or have two races down there instead. We’re not quite sure yet.

“The first quarantine starts on September 13th.

“The Irish Leger is the day after so if he goes for that race he will have to go on the second flight and go into quarantine two weeks later.”

The Dubai Cornwallis Stakes on Future Champions Day at Newmarket is a potential long-term target for Tommy Stack’s exciting juvenile Accepted. Following a debut victory at the Curragh and a Listed-race triumph at Tipperary, the youngster was sent to York last week for the Gimcrack Stakes where he finished fifth.

Stack’s son and assistant, Fozzy, said: “We don’t have any definite plans, but maybe something like the Cornwallis could be an option.”