Tarima lived up to her regal breeding when coming from last to first to make a successful start to her career in the “Look De Vega” At Ballylinch Stud Fillies Maiden at Leopardstown.
The three-year-old is a half-sister to two of trainer Dermot Weld’s former stable stars in Tarnawa and Tahiyra. Tarnawa won three Group Ones and was second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, while Tahiyra struck four times at the highest level, including a Classic victory in the Irish 1,000 Guineas.
Tarima, a daughter of Lope De Vega, was a heavily backed 4-7 favourite for her racecourse introduction and was given time to find her feet by Chris Hayes, who settled her at the rear of the seven-strong field for much of the one-mile journey before angling wide to mount a challenge in the straight.
It took a few strides for the penny to drop, but Weld’s filly comfortably ran down those in front of her in the end and passed the post with a length and three-quarters in hand over Noli Timere.
Weld said: “That was a nice performance by the filly and she’ll learn a lot from it.
“Chris hadn’t planned to sit quite so far back on her, but she just gets turned sideways when they jump (from stalls) and he had to sit and do the right thing and ride her with confidence.
“She was a backward filly as a two-year-old and I didn’t get to teach her that much – she was growing and developing. She is going to learn an awful lot from that race.”
While in no rush to commit to future plans, the master of Rosewell House did raise the possibility of Tarima bidding to emulate Tahiyra in the spring, adding: “I expect a lot of progress in the filly and hopefully she develops to be a stakes filly. I trained her two half-sisters to win seven Group Ones.
“I would see her going beyond a mile but have an open mind on when we go beyond a mile.
“The Irish 1,000 Guineas has to be a consideration, but let’s take smaller steps first.”
Serious Contender completed a treble on the card for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore with victory in the 1888 Restaurant Handicap.
With the Ballydoyle team having earlier landed a Group Three double courtesy of 2000 Guineas hopeful Henri Matisse (6-4) and Derby contender Delacroix (4-7), Serious Contender was a 9-4 favourite for his first start since shedding his maiden tag at Leopardstown in October.
The pacesetting Glen To Glen looked the likely winner after taking a couple of lengths out of the field in the straight, but Serious Contender and his stablemate Light As Air got rolling late to fill the first two positions, separated by only half a length.
O’Brien said: “Ryan had a grand position and he’s a lovely big horse. We’ll see where he fits in.
“I think the first two can both go a mile and a half. It was a strong-run race and they weren’t stopping.
“Jack’s (Cleary) horse (Light As Air) was only after having two runs and was very green the twice he ran. I didn’t know what he was going to do so I said to Jack to let him get relaxed the first half and see what is going to happen.”
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