Moments after Aidan O'Brien went public about a low-grade infection that has been impacting some of his horses' performances in recent months, Sun Goddess belied any concerns about her wellbeing with another emphatic display to win the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) Sept. 13 by a yawning margin at the Curragh.
For all that some of the Ballydoyle runners have been misfiring by the operation's high expectations, for the most part the juveniles have been holding their form well. O'Brien's only winner on day one of the Irish Champions Festival was Darkness Falls in the Golden Fleece Stakes (G1) at Leopardstown and Sun Goddess added another group 1 here by obliterating her five rivals in this €400,000 affair, carrying the same Westerberg version of the Coolmore silks.
She had already beaten the boys to claim a first triumph at the highest level in the Phoenix Stakes (G1) before routing her opposition in the valuable Goffs sales race Aug. 20 at York.
Back against her own sex here, on her seventh start since May on ground that was on the easy side of good, she once more stormed clear to the tune of 6 1/2 lengths from Green Empress under Ryan Moore.
"She looks a freak, doesn't she? Everything she has done has been freakish," O'Brien said of the 4-7 shot, his 12th winner of this group 1.
"She was up to 7 furlongs today and soft ground. Our other filly (Alpha, who finished tamely to be fifth) we felt wanted a mile but this filly we weren't sure she would stay, but there was only one place we were going to find out and this race was on. She's a big, powerful and strong filly by Sioux Nation."
Sun Goddess has a redoubtable constitution and O'Brien won't be changing his modus operandi with her. Asked where she might go next, he said: "The Cheveley Park is there in two weeks, we'll see. She's coming out of her races like she isn't even having races."
He added: "She has an awful lot of natural class and she's a big filly. You'd imagine looking at her that she should be a much better filly next year. She's just natural, really. We didn't know what was going to happen but it's incredible, really."
For Moore, this was a third win in the race, six years after he last landed it on Shale for Donnacha O'Brien.
"She's a very good filly and has just kept on improving. She's up to 7 furlongs today and has got her ground, and that's the most impressive she has been," he said. "She's thriving."
"She does everything lovely; she relaxed and was in a beautiful rhythm. She was very smooth, and when I asked her to quicken, she opened up very impressively. She couldn't have done any more."
With her victory, Sun Goddess earned an automatic, fees-paid berth to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) Oct. 30 at Keeneland through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win And You're In.
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