SNOW FAIRY, our dual Oaks heroine who is on target for the Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday, had her final gallop at Newmarket on Tuesday morning under champion jockey Ryan Moore, though Ed's enthusiasm was dampened somewhat when he returned to the office to hear that, as expected, the heavens had opened at Town Moor overnight.
Ed said: "I was very happy with the way in which Snow Fairy worked, but obviously the fact that Doncaster have had 25mm of rain has put a dampener on things. The ground has gone "˜good to soft' and, while she showed that she can cope with those sort of conditions at The Curragh, the worry would be that further deterioration of the weather would put the emphasis on stamina over the longer trip.
"Against that, I never initially thought that Snow Fairy would stay a mile and a half, so she has repeatedly belied her pedigree, and if we got the right conditions we'd be optimistic that she'd stay, though the riding instructions would be not to bully her if the petrol gauge was running on empty at the two-pole as we are looking forward to having her racing for us next year.
"However, we have to monitor the weather through the week. The rain might well bring Sir Michael Stoute's Total Command into the mix, and if we do run - and I'd love to if the ground does not get any worse - we might not have Ryan, in which case it will be either Richard Hughes, who rode the filly in the Yorkshire Oaks, or Eddie Ahern. We still have the Prix Vermeille at Longchamp on Sunday as Plan B, and she will be left in that until the final declaration stage at least.
"This has been the most amazing fairytale story for me, the staff and, more importantly, the owner-breeder (Christine Patino). I took Snow Fairy out of a Listed race at York in May because I thought the ground would be too firm, but we then popped her in the Height of Fashion Stakes at Goodwood, which she won, and we then started supplementing her for the classics. She won two Oaks and bumped into an exceptional older filly in Midday, so we have been extraordinary lucky. I only train one for the owner "" my father has a dozen or so, but, fortunately for us, this is one he let slip through the net!"