How Ger Lyons’ ‘Real Speedball’ Can Reignite After Curragh Defeat

Connections of Lady Iman may consider dropping the filly back to five furlongs following her first career defeat by Beautify in Saturday's Airlie Stud Stakes at the Curragh.

That is the view of Emma Nagle, speaking on this week's irishracing.com Irish Angle YouTube show.

The filly, who had looked something special in her early career starts, was odds-on to reverse recent form but could only finish behind the maiden Beautify, who was given a perfectly-timed front-running ride by Ryan Moore.

Beautify a worthy winner

“There was a lot of money for Beautify, a maiden going against Lady Iman,” said host Vincent Finegan.

“I thought Lady Iman was something special from her previous runs and I was a little bit disappointed. Having said that, Ryan Moore, I thought, gave Beautify a fantastic ride from the front as well which probably stole it to some extent.”

Nagle suggested Lady Iman appeared to be "a real speed ball" who might be better suited to dropping down in trip rather than stretching out to six furlongs and beyond.

🗣️"That makes her a hundred horse all day long."

Beautify took a huge step forward from her debut third to beat Lady Imam in the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes on Saturday.

Connections may be tempted to drop the runner-up back to the minimum trip. #TheVerdict | @AngusMcNae |… pic.twitter.com/SX2ImuHhv3

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) June 30, 2025

What next for Lady Iman?

“You kind of wonder, will they be thinking of dropping her back to the five furlongs now? She was really, really good on her first starts. She looks like a real speedball, maybe dropping down to five furlongs would suit her a bit better now," Nagle added.

The defeat represents a setback for a filly who had shown considerable promise in her initial outings, with connections now facing decisions about her preferred trip going forward.

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