The Willie Mullins-trained True Self (IRE) endeared herself to fans in Australia with back to back wins in the Group III Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) at Flemington, and it looks as if she will be back again this year after her big payday at Riyadh.
The eight-year-old daughter of champion National Hunt stallion Oscar is still doing what she does best.
Carrying the OTI Racing silks, True Self (IRE) claimed the £437,956 first prize under a brilliant Hollie Doyle ride in the Neom Turf Cup on the Saudi Cup undercard in Riyadh.
True Self gradually wore down the Breeders’ Cup Turf third Channel Maker to score by a length and a quarter. Emirates Knight was a further four and three-quarter lengths back in third.
Speaking to Racing TV from his County Carlow base, Mullins was effusive in his praise for both rider and horse.
“I’d like to congratulate Hollie on a fantastic ride.
“She’s way more speed than we thought when we bought her as a bumper mare to go hurdling with.
“She just has a huge amount of speed. All the jockeys who have ridden her have said to me that a mile and a quarter suits her.
“It looked like our mare just stayed on and on, while the one in front was just tying up.
“We’ve had gale force winds here (in Ireland) and an inch of rain this morning, and I thought ‘it’ll be lovely over there’. But then I saw at the start you had lots of rain as well. So I thought ‘that suits the mare – she’ll feel more at home with that’.”
Australia at the end of this year in November, that’s the main plan. So what we do in between times we haven’t really thought about.
“The first part of the year’s plan has worked out, and it will be probably on to Australia from here.”
