possible that the promising three-year-old Precise can be added to that list. She progressed

rapidly as a two-year-old last season and will be fancied by many in the Classics.

Pedigree

A Chestnut filly, she was foaled on May 2nd 2023 and is by Starspangledbanner, who was a

Group 1-winning sprinter for O'Brien during his racing days. He won a Group 1 over a mile in

Australia but had enough pace to win the Golden Jubilee and the July Cup.

Her dam was a nine-race maiden but ran over significantly longer trips, suggesting that

middle-distance races could be on the agenda for Precise at some point. This filly was bred

by Whisperview Trading Ltd, which is Aidan and Anne Marie O'Brien's company.

While Precise's Dam Way To My Heart didn't set the world alight as a racehorse, she is

sister to Kingfisher, who was a useful stayer on the Flat. Precise's only other sibling to run in

Britain or Ireland is I Love Paris, who is winless on the Flat and over Jumps.

Racing career

The daughter of Starspangledbanner started off in a 6f maiden at Fairyhouse and it's no

surprise that she failed to win that day. Six furlongs was clearly too sharp for her but she ran

an absolute cracker to finish second by less than a length.

There were 15 runners in the race and it has produced several subsequent winners, with the

second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth all going on to win later on. Precise got outpaced at a key

stage but she kept on well, despite getting carried to the left.

An impressive victory was achieved in her next start when upped to 7f at Cork in August.

She was always prominent with Jack Cleary on board and was pushed clear in the final

furlong or so to score by just shy of three lengths.

Heading over to Goodwood next time, Precise contested the Group 3 Prestige Fillies' Stakes

just 10 days later and battled on well to score by three-quarters-of-a-length. Aylin was third

that day and boosted the form by winning the Group 2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster.

She went into the Moyglare Stud Stakes as the supposed second-string, with Christophe

Soumillion riding Composing, but managed to come out on top with Ronan Whelan on

board, with Albany Stakes and Prix Morny winner Venetian Sun back in third.

We hadn't seen the best of O'Brien's filly yet, however, as she would go on to produce a

career-best performance when upped to a mile for the first time in the Fillies' Mile at

Newmarket in October. No one could lay a glove on her and she won with loads in hand.

Future targets

It's a shame Precise missed out on the Breeders' Cup, as she was scratched in the States,

but we're likely to see her again in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in May. Having bolted up

over course and distance last time, she currently heads the ante-post market.

Precise could well be an Oaks filly in the future and she shaped as if 1m2f wouldn't be

beyond her at the very least as a three-year-old.

One thing is for sure, she'll be competing in all the top races and it could be a very exciting

season for her.

Symbols Explained

ts² Tongue Strap vs² Visor hd² Hood es² Eye Shield ec² Eye Cover cp² Cheekpiece bl² Blinkers tt² Tongue Tie bf Beaten Favourite on Last Run srMentioned in Stewards Report in Results bbvBroke Blood Vessel

The superscript number on headgear bl² indicates number of times worn. A plus bl⁺ indicates more than 10 times where as red background bl¹indicates first time.