Lyric of Light will look to emulate the great Oh So Sharp and Bosra Sham in becoming only the third horse in history to win the Fillies' Mile and the 1000 Guineas when the unbeaten Godolphin-owned daughter of Street Cry takes to the racecourse on Sunday May 6. Currently available to back at a price of (11.521/2), the Timeform 114p rated filly boasts a record of three wins from three starts, with an impressive battling display against Fallen For You in the Group 2 May Hill Stakes followed by her Fillies' Mile success over the Guineas course and distance last September.
The manner of her victory on that occasion was particularly striking, with Lyric of Light cruising up on the bridle two furlongs out before sprinting to make up good ground on the front-running Samitar, whom she had conceded first run to. The fact she managed to overhaul that rival, when others were unable to do so, speaks volumes with regards to her ability and Lyric of Light should have a great chance of adding to her Group 1 tally.
Godolphin have a very powerful team of three-year-old fillies' this season, and it seems they have an even more outstanding Guineas candidate in the form of Discourse, who is rated 2 lb superior to her stablemate. Sent off a Betfair SP of (30.029/1) on debut, Discourse overcame greenness to get the better of the well-fancied Gamilati (also of Godolphin) who was better positioned as things transpired with the pair pulling clear of a good field.
An even better performance soon followed as Discourse was sent into pattern company on her very next start. She repaid connections' faith immediately, storming clear of the likes of Lily's Angel and Kinetica to land the Group 2 Sweet Solera Stakes by four and a half lengths. A minor setback ruled her out of the Fillies' Mile, and trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni said she would be put away for the winter with the Guineas in mind. Her price of (9.617/2) looks generous and Discourse is expected to develop into a top-class filly as the season progresses.
The current ante-post favourite for the Newmarket showpiece is Maybe, who currently trades as low as (3.3512/5) having enjoyed a brilliant juvenile campaign in 2011. Maybe is unbeaten in five starts and her season culminated in a Group 1 victory over Fire Lily and La Collina in the Moyglare Stakes last August. Maybe has already reached a Timeform rating of 117p, which puts her slightly ahead of the Godolphin duo, but she may be open to less improvement given she has already had the five starts. She arguably has the strongest claims at this stage, but her short odds make little appeal, particularly when compared with the price available about Discourse, and Aidan O'Brien has only landed the 1000 Guineas once.
Also hailing from the Ballydoyle yard is the Group 2 Rockfel winner Wading, who earned herself a Timeform rating of 116p when defeating the likes of Pimpernel and Bana Wu on Future Champions' Day. Wading currently trades at (30.029/1) for the 1000 Guineas but the feeling is that she may be better suited to the Oaks given her pedigree (dam stayed a mile and a half, closely related to Sea The Stars and half-sister to Galileo) and she is not a certain runner at Newmarket.
Others worthy of a mention at this stage include Mashoora and Lightening Pearl, the former a narrow-margin winner of the Prix Imprudence at the start of April, whilst the latter won last season's Group 1 Cheveley Park.
The French have a relatively impressive record in both Guineas, with Makfi's success in the 2010 renewal of the 2000 Guineas in addition to the 1000 Guineas victories of Special Duty and Natagora in recent years, and Mashoora's current price of (11.521/2) suggests that Jean-Claude Rouget's filly has a very good chance of adding to the list. Mashoora will need to improve upon the form she demonstrated in the Prix Imprudence last time, but she won that contest with plenty in hand and there looks as though there could be more to come.
Lightening Pearl was an impressive winner at Newmarket last season but the question marks regarding her ability to stay a strongly run mile at Newmarket are a big concern. She did achieve a form figure of 113 last season in the Tower Stakes, so she may have the requisite quality, but she was previously beaten by Maybe and there is no evidence to suggest that she is entitled to reverse the form.
It looks as though the 1000 Guineas will go to either Godolphin or Ballydoyle this year, but the advantage might well lie with the boys in blue, who have two outstanding candidates in the form of Lyric of Light and Discourse. Of that duo, slight preference is with Discourse who looked as though she would take everything before her after landing last season's Sweet Solera Stakes and looks decent value at the current prices.
