The horse racing statistics traditionally show that it’s not often you see a two-year-old win a top sales race in authoritative fashion. As such, you may not immediately rush to see what price might be available for a Group 1 all-age sprint, but that’s just what I – and apparently plenty of others who saw the performance – did soon after Tiggy Wiggy had bolted up by six lengths in the valuable Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury on July 19.
There were no prices immediately offered after the Richard Hannon-trained daughter of Kodiac had made every yard of the running to beat her 23 rivals senseless, pinging out of the stalls in the five furlong contest and clearly being in full control of the race well before halfway.
Having gone a cracking gallop to that point, it then came as a tremendous surprise to see Richard Hughes’s mount effortlessly quicken again to go well clear of her rivals to whom she was giving away weight all round as a result of a listed victory earlier in the campaign.
Narrowly beaten last time out at Royal Ascot by Ireland’s highly regarded Anthem Alexander in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes, Tiggy Wiggy had clearly improved physically since that defeat. The expressions on the faces of both Hannon and Hughes as the 41,000 guineas purchase came back to the winners’ enclosure left no doubt that they now realise they have a very high-class performer in the making.
Hannon’s father, Richard Snr., sent out the great juvenile filly Lyric Fantasy to beat her elders in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York way back in 1992, and the feat was repeated by another juvenile, the John Best-trained Kingsgate Native, back in 2007, so running Tiggy Wiggy on the Knavesmire would certainly not be tilting at windmills.
If she goes to York, despite the likely presence of top speedsters such as Sole Power, Maarek, Due Diligence, and the flying Slade Power, I believe Tiggy Wiggy will give a very good account of herself in receipt of the generous weight-for-age allowance and should be given very serious consideration.