Tarnawa makes her eagerly-anticipated return to action in the Grant Thornton Ballyroan Stakes at Leopardstown.
Dermot Weld’s star mare enjoyed a spectacular and unbeaten campaign in 2020, landing back-to-back Group One victories in France before providing her trainer with a first Breeders’ Cup win at Keeneland in November.
Tarnawa has not been seen since the latter of those triumphs, but will be a extremely short odds to pick up where she left off under Colin Keane in Thursday's Group Three feature — although her trainer has sounded a cautionary note.
Weld said: “We’re very, very happy with her. The only thing is she’s done herself extremely well through the summer and she’s just carrying a bit more than I’d like condition-wise for her first run.”
On deliberately giving her a long break before her return, the Rosewell House trainer said: “It worked really successfully for her last year (started in August) — she won her two Group Ones in France and the Breeders’ Cup Turf, and I thought we’d kind of follow a similar pattern.
“But possibly because we’ve had a very, very dry and warm summer in Ireland and the ground has been pretty firm I would have liked to have got a bit more work into her. But I’m happy with the filly physically and mentally.”
