Snow Fairy and Gleneagles' daughter Virgin Snow set for Doncaster debut

Virgin Snow will become the second racecourse representative of iconic racemare Snow Fairy when the two-year-old filly lines up in the #thecrew Children's Club EBF Maiden Fillies' Stakes at Doncaster at 6.15 on Saturday.

The Ed Dunlop-trained filly will carry the silks of owner-breeder Cristina Patino, whose colours were also sported by Snow Fairy during her four seasons in training. Snow Fairy won eight races during a globe-trotting racing career, including six at elite level.

View full runners and riders for Virgin Snow's debut race

Her top-level spree began when she landed the 2010 Oaks, an effort that was duly followed by an eight-length romp in the Irish equivalent. Later that year Snow Fairy made her first trip to East Asia, where she ran out an impressive winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup at Kyoto and also landed the Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin.

Snow Fairy tasted defeat at the hands of some heavyweights of the turf during the 2011 campaign, going down to the likes of So You Think, Danedream and Cirrus Des Aigles before she returned to Kyoto to defend her Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup crown.

The daughter of Intikhab returned at five and finished first-past-the-post in the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet, only to be later disqualified after a banned substance was discovered in her post-race sample.

Frankie Dettori aboard Snow Fairy after her Irish Champion Stakes triumphCredit: Patrick McCann

Nonetheless, Snow Fairy brought the curtain down on a glittering racecourse career when she outgunned Nathaniel and St Nicholas Abbey to land the Irish Champion Stakes.

It would be fair to say Snow Fairy's breeding career has some way to go if she is to reach the heights she achieved as a racehorse, albeit she has some well-bred youngsters in the pipeline.

Patino sent Snow Fairy to another of her homebred stars, the Irish National Stud resident Elusive Pimpernel, for her debut covering, and that mating resulted in Belle De Neige, who ran just once, beaten 28 lengths by Lah Ti Dar, in a Newbury maiden in April 2018.

Virgin Snow is by Coolmore's exciting first-crop sire Gleneagles, the four-time Group 1 winner by Galileo. His debut two-year-olds have been in good form, with his six winners headed by Group 2 Tattersalls July Stakes scorer Royal Lytham and Windsor Castle Stakes victor Southern Hills.

Gleneagles at CoolmoreCredit: Coolmore

Snow Fairy has also produced a colt by Frankel, now a yearling and named John Leeper, and was covered by Sea The Stars last year.

Virgin Snow is due to face nine rivals on Saturday, including the Dubawi filly Expensive Dirham, who boasts an unusual lineage being out of the Chilean Derby and Oaks winner Hush Money.

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