Seiko Hashida, daughter of Deirdre’s trainer Mitsuru Hashida, is looking forward to the star Japanese mare running for the second time in Britain during the Qatar Goodwood Festival. She is hoping that Oisin Murphy can partner Deirdre.
Deidre at gallops on Monday
The five-year-old Harbinger mare, a G1 winner in Japan, was unsuited by the soft ground when sixth in the 10-furlong G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 19 – her first experience of racing in Britain.
She is set to run in the G1 Qatar Nassau Stakes over just short of 10 furlongs on the third day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, Ladies’ Day, Thursday, August 1.
Seiko Hashida reported from Abington Place Stables in Newmarket: “We have been pleased with Deirdre since Royal Ascot. She is very relaxed.
“We have learned a lot about Newmarket Heath as she has been here for more than two months now, coming on from Hong Kong where she raced at the end of April.
“Deirdre is really settled here – she likes being in Newmarket. She usually goes to Warren Hill and Long Hill in the mornings.
“She tried really hard at Ascot, but was not used to the heavy rain and soft ground, plus the uphill and downhill of the track.
“We have taken her to Goodwood, which is very different from Japanese racecourses. We wanted to show her the course beforehand. The course is undulating and I think she will like it. The faster ground at Goodwood will be more suitable.
“Goodwood Racecourse maybe is a little bit tricky and different from Japanese tracks so we thought it would be better if we had a jockey who knows Goodwood Racecourse and is an experienced rider.
“Oisin Murphy will ride her for the first time tomorrow morning in a piece of work. We are not a 100 per cent sure yet whether Oisin can ride her in the Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood – that will depend on what others run in the race. We are waiting on the answer.
“The plan afterwards depends on how she gets on at Goodwood, but we would like to run her again once or twice more, hopefully in Europe.”
Deirdre is likely to retire to stud at the end of the year.
