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Lake Victoria retained her unblemished record with a dazzling success in the one mile Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Friday night.
It was a second victory in the Juvenile Fillies Turf for trainer Aidan O'Brien, who previously tasted success in the contest with Meditate in 2022.
Arguably the best two-year-old filly that O'Brien has fielded at a Breeders' Cup meeting, Lake Victoria was previously unbeaten in four starts. A winner of a Curragh maiden over seven furlongs in late June, the daughter of Frankel landed back-to-back Group 1 victories in the Moyglare Stakes over the same course and distance and the six-furlong Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket.
Lake Victoria broke quickly for a prominent position, but was swiftly squeezed out by Totally Justified, who moved left entering the first turn and interrupted the filly's early tempo. Jockey Ryan Moore was eventually able to settle Lake Victoria on the inside rail, where she appeared to have plenty still to do rounding the final bend. Switching right, the filly responded emphatically to Moore's urgings, powering clear for a comfortable success over the Frankie Dettori-ridden May Day Ready. Fellow American-trained Nitrogen finished third, with Lake Victoria's stablemate Heavens Gate only able to manage eleventh.
In an interview with NBC, winning jockey Ryan Moore said: "She jumped very well and I was having to use a bit of gas to hold my position, and then we got very tight with the five [Totally Justified]. We were stuck to the fence.
"Usually when you get bumped around like that it's very hard for a horse to do what she did at the end of a race.
"The pace came out of the race and the damage was done. She got to the front very easily and pricked her ears. She was a level above these."
Aidan O'Brien added his praise for the filly, saying: "It was an incredible performance. She looks very special.
"Ryan was very cool on her, he probably ended up further back than he wanted to be. She'd only ever run over straight tracks before and it was her first time over a mile, and Ryan gave her a brilliant ride."
It was unsurprising to see Lake Victoria cement her position at the top of next year's 1000 Guineas market, with Paddy Power choosing to shorten the filly from 3/1 favourite to 11/4 favourite.
