No filly could lay a glove on the Andrew Balding-trained Blue Bolt again in the Sept. 12 Matron Stakes (G1) as Colin Keane guided Juddmonte's winning machine to a fifth win in a row and a third group 1 on the bounce.
The daughter of Blue Point produced some smart performances in her first season racing last year, most notably when second to Fallen Angel in the Sun Chariot Stakes (G1), but she turned inside out as a 4-year-old and has ruled the fillies' mile division with an iron fist.
Precise and True Love were both Guineas winners for Aidan O'Brien earlier in the season but neither can live with Balding's star filly, this being Precise's third failed attempt at lowering her colors. This is a horse of rare talent and this was her most dominant performance yet.
Drawn widest of the nine participants, Keane kept it as simple as possible on the 4-5 favorite, settling in fifth on the outside of his main market rival Precise in the 1-mile race at Leopardstown Racecourse.
When they turned in, Keane asked her to up a gear and she complied instantly. She motored into a share of the lead with pacesetter Carolina Jetstream and City of Memphis on the inside and once the man on board administered one flick of the whip, Blue Bolt hurtled clear and it was over.
"She was tough to train at 2, we didn't even get her on the racecourse," Balding said. "We started at Southwell getting beat at odds-on and she hasn't looked back since. She's pretty special, she's just got better and better and is beautiful physically to look at as well. She really is a lovely filly."
City of Memphis stuck to her task admirably to finish 2 1/4 lengths ahead in second ahead of Fallen Angel, while Precise and True Love were well beaten in fifth and sixth.
"She's very straightforward," Keane said. "She breaks from the stalls, gets herself into a good position, lengthens and gallops and makes it hard for them to pass her.
"They could've gone quicker if they wanted to but my filly travels strongly. It's what she does, but when you get her in the top there, she's a bit relentless. The farther she goes, the better she goes. If they wanted to, she could go farther, but she's very good at a mile."
With this success, Blue Bolt has secured a spot in the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In, which the trainer said will come under consideration. However, the questions on plenty of lips in the winner's enclosure concerned the long term, as people were keen to ascertain the chance of her staying in training next year. A tantalizing idea, if there ever was one.
Barry Mahon, racing manager for Juddmonte, was not rushing to provide an answer.
"At the end of the year we'll sit down, usually after Champions Weekend or the Breeders' Cup, and make that decision," he explained. "They're not opposed to keeping a 5-year-old in training, so who knows? But it will very much be a choice for them at the end of the year."
So you are saying there is a chance?
"I wouldn't say no!" Balding said. "But it's not my decision."
