True Love (9/4F) confirmed the promise of a recent second behind Tuesday’s Coventry Stakes hero Gstaad as she provided Aidan O’Brien with a first success in the Gr2 Queen Mary Stakes on Royal Ascot Day 2, on Wednesday.
Despite coming off the bridle just after halfway, the twice-raced daughter of No Nay Never responded gamely to Ryan Moore’s urgings, sweeping through towards the stands’ side to win by a commanding length and a quarter.
True Love (Ryan Moore) wins the Queen Mary Stakes (Pic – Megan Coggin)
Flowerhead finished strongly on the far side to grab second and bely 100/1 odds for Charlie Clover, while US-raider Lennilu (11/2) was third for Patrick Biancone.
True Love’s success in the five-furlong contest means that O’Brien has now won every juvenile race at Royal Ascot at least once.
O’Brien said: “True Love had two very good runs, finishing second to a good filly [Lady Imam] the first time and then our own colt beat her the second time.
“Ryan said he thought she would be better when she steps up to six furlongs. The only thing is that she was drawn by herself. There was no pace where she was, so she had to do her own work and that’s what Ryan did. He was excellent on her. He wasn’t going to wait on anybody. I think probably the strongest part of her was the last half a furlong – when she got going, she really powered away.
“She is a big, mature, strong filly; walking around the ring, she was like a four-year-old, and that’s not making little of anything else. She is just so big, mature and scopey. She is something to look forward to.”
Reflecting on her two defeats, O’Brien said: “She had her first run and Ryan came in and said, ‘They won’t beat her again’. Her second run, Wayne came in and said, ‘They won’t beat her again’. Then you see the two that beat her, so…!
“She is obviously high class. The lads will decide, but you would imagine she’ll have no problem going six, although she is a No Nay Never and he is a big influence for speed.”
Moore said: “True Love is a tall, scopey girl. She looked a different class to the others down at the start. She is a No Nay Never and they’re usually big, strong, powerful, fast two-year-olds; she’s got all that size, but she feels like she’ll be better suited when she goes a bit further.
“She was second first time in a Listed race, beaten by a smart filly, and then obviously the colt that beat her won yesterday, so the form was there.”
Co-owner Michael Tabor said: “I believe True Love stood out amongst all the other fillies in the race. We were pretty confident [after Gstaad’s win], we really were. Aidan always said to me that she is very, very fast. In actual fact, she probably needs a bit further, that’s the reality of it, and the great thing is her mother [Alluringly] is in foal to City Of Troy and the sister to Wootton Bassett, so very happy.”
Flowerhead’s trainer Charlie Clover said: “You come into every race wanting to win but, at 100/1, you have to check reality and see what’s possible, even though we always liked the filly at home. We are only a very small team, so to see her run such a big race like that is huge for us. And to have the backing of Amo is a massive boost to my career. I only started training in December, so going to a Group Two with a two-year-old felt a little bit far-fetched. We can think about the bigger picture now.”
Lennilu’s trainer Patrick Biancone, saddling his first Royal Ascot runner since 1988, said: “She is only a baby. I liked the fact she fought back at the end, which means that she should stay further. She fought all the way. We will go home and give her a break; the first plan was to try to win here with her; she is Group 2-placed now, which is good, and she can have a little vacation and then we’ll see her in Del Mar.”
Queen Mary Stakes (Group 2)
1 True Love (M Tabor, D Smith, S Magnier) Aidan O’Brien IRE 2-9-02 Ryan Moore 9/4F
2 Flowerhead (Amo Racing Limited) Charlie Clover 2-9-02 Colin Keane 100/1
3 Lennilu (Bushnell, Dunne, Harrington, Hoffman, Miley) Patrick Biancone USA 2-9-02 Luis Saez 11/2
23 ran
- Aidan O’Brien – 93rd Royal Ascot winner
- Ryan Moore – 87th Royal Ascot winner
Sectional times: Royal Ascot 2025
