Arrowfield Stud shuttler Shalaa (IRE) broke the ice with his first Group I winner overnight in Ireland where three year-old filly No Speak Alexander scored a surprise win in the Group I Matron Stakes (1m) at Leopardstown.
Trained by Jessica Harrington, No Speak Alexander won the Group III Athasi Stakes at her first run for 2021 and was then third in the Group I Irish One Thousand Guineas.
She disappointed at her next run in Group I company at Deauville, but bounced back here to score a neck win over four year-old Invincible spirit mare Pearls Galore with race favourite Mother Earth a luckless third.
“It was her day in the sun today," said a delighted Jessica Harrington.
"Everything was right and she really came on from the last day. She got no run in France at all– she got knocked over a furlong down.
"We trained her for this day and we rode her the same way as we did in the Guineas – up at the sharp end."
Her win in the Matron Stakes represented a win-and-you're-in to the Breeders' Cup in the US, but Harrington was non-committal about that possibility.
She added: "She's probably got a little bit stronger. She likes a bit of nice ground. This was the plan and we'll enjoy the day."
No Speak Alexander is the first winner for Rapacity Alexander, a stakes-winning full sister to Group I winning sprinter Peniaphobia.
She is the first Group I winner among three stakes-winners worldwide for Shalaa, who stands at Arrowfield Stud this spring at a fee of $44,000.
