Alpha dazzles at The Curragh, earns TDN Rising Star status

Alpha turned the seven-furlong GAIN Equine Nutrition Irish EBF Fillies Maiden into a one-filly show at The Curragh, streaking six lengths clear on good ground and earning TDN Rising Star status in the process. Sent straight to the front by Ryan Moore, the 8/11 favorite never gave her rivals a look in and finished with the kind of authority that changes a filly’s profile overnight.

The Sea The Stars filly was making only her second start after a promising debut second at Leopardstown earlier in the month, but there was no hint of inexperience once Moore asked her to quicken. She was soon pestered, then shaken up and went clear over a furlong out before keeping on strongly all the way to the line. Ibelieveicanfly finished second, six lengths behind, with Livenka another 2 1/4 lengths away in third. The winner took the first-place prize of €23,560 and looked a long way beyond maiden company in the process.

Aidan O’Brien had every reason to be pleased, calling Alpha “very unusual” and saying she “picked up with every furlong and picked up again going to the line.” He also said she had been considered for the Chesham, but the stable elected not to send her there, a call that left her fresher for this assignment and, on this evidence, may have sharpened the edge of a filly with far bigger races in view.

That is where the story gets louder. Alpha is out of Alpha Centauri, the four-time Group 1 winner who captured the Irish 1,000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes, Falmouth Stakes and Prix Jacques le Marois. She is the fourth foal out of that remarkable mare, and the family already includes proven top-level performers in full sister Discoveries, winner of the Moyglare Stud Stakes, and half-sister Alpine Star, who won the Coronation Stakes and was placed in the Prix de Diane, Prix Jacques le Marois and Prix de l’Opera.

The Curragh fillies maiden has also developed into a serious proving ground, with recent winners including Discoveries, Never Ending Story and Ylang Ylang. Alpha now looks like the latest graduate with the kind of engine that can carry her into the Debutante and Moyglare, and Racing TV already had her as short as 10/1 for the 1,000 Guineas after the performance. For Sea The Stars, it was his 24th TDN Rising Star, but for Alpha the bigger question is whether the family has produced another genuine Group 1 filly, not just another well-bred winner.