Fine third for Mary Tudor in Darley Irish Oaks

Mary Tudor produced a career-best performance when coming home third in the G1 Darley Irish Oaks over a mile and a half at the Curragh, Ireland, on Saturday, 21 July.

The three-year-old Dawn Approach filly, trained by Willie McCreery and ridden by Billy Lee, broke well and raced in fifth of the seven runners on the inside rail after a furlong.

She was relegated to a close sixth with six furlongs to race but stayed on strongly after being switched out to deliver her challenge entering the final quarter-mile.

Mary Tudor went second over a furlong from home and kept on after being passed approaching the final half-furlong to finish a length and three-quarters behind Sea Of Class, who won in 2m 32.54s on good to firm ground.

Jimmy Hyland of Godolphin commented: “We were delighted with the run of Mary Tudor and it was a big step up for her to finish third in a Classic.

“Now she is proven over a mile and a half, it opens up a lot of options for the remainder of the season.

“It is great to get some G1 Black Type and we will have a discussion about her next race, but we have plenty to look forwards to over the coming months.”