Timeform's top juvenile fillies of 2022 from Tahyira to Lezoo

Tahyira (116P) Siyouni – Tarana

Tahiyra has the unusual distinction of being not only rated the best two-year-old filly of 2022 but also keeps the ‘large P’ symbol on her rating indicating that she still has more than average progress to make. She’s only had two starts, after all, and won both of them impressively. Starting off in a maiden at Galway in which Dermot Weld has introduced some good fillies in the past, including Tahyira’s own high-class half-sister Tarnawa, Tahiyra eased her way to the front and showed a striking turn of foot to beat the Ballydoyle odds-on shot Dower House by five and a half lengths.

Dower House’s stablemate Meditate, then with claims to being the season’s top two-year-old filly, looked like being a tougher nut to crack in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh seven weeks later but Tahiyra took the big step up in class in her stride, quickening to lead in the last half-furlong without Chris Hayes going for his whip and value for more than the two and a quarter lengths she beat Meditate. A really exciting prospect, Tahyira, whose half-sister won the Breeders’ Cup Turf among other good races, is bred to stay middle distances herself. Dermot Weld

Blue Rose Cen (114) Churchill – Queen Blossom

The French two-year-old colts might not have been up to much but they had a smart filly in Blue Rose Cen, winner of four of her six starts. She can be excused her debut defeat over an inadequate six furlongs as she won her next two starts in minor events at Saint-Cloud and Clairefontaine in the summer when stepped up to seven furlongs and then a mile. It took the smart Ballydoyle colt Victoria Road, later winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, to interrupt her winning sequence when she went down by a short neck in a valuable listed race at Deauville but the Prix d’Aumale at Longchamp in September soon saw Blue Rose Cen back to winning ways.

However, much her best effort came over the same course and distance on softer ground in the Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc day when she clearly relished the test of a well-run race under those conditions. Quickening to lead over a furlong out, Blue Rose Cen pulled five lengths clear of the Irish fillies Gan Teorainn and Never Ending Story, shaping as though longer trips will suit her this year; her dam was a Grade 3 winner in the States over a mile and a half. Christopher Head

Meditate (114) No Nay Never – Pembina

Meditate thrived on a tough campaign for a two-year-old filly which took her from winning over five furlongs on her debut at the Curragh in early-April to winning over a mile at the Breeders’ Cup in early-November. Meditate won her first four starts, progressing from her maiden win to take the Fillies Sprint Stakes at Naas and the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot, where she was a decisive winner from Mawj, later successful in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, and then stepping up to seven furlongs when making all again to land the odds in the Debutante Stakes at the Curragh.

She then bumped into Tahyira in the Moyglare Stud Stakes but pulled well clear of the remainder herself under much the softest conditions she encountered all year. Meditate ran well in defeat again next time, though that was in spite of the drop back to six furlongs for the Cheveley Park Stakes where she found Lezoo three quarters of a length too good. The Juvenile Fillies’ Turf at Keeneland saw Meditate to much better effect over a mile, seeing out the longer trip in good style under a much more patient ride which augurs well for her 1000 Guineas prospects. Aidan O’Brien

Commissioning (112 - retired) Kingman – Sovereign Parade

The unbeaten Commissioning would have been a leading contender for the 1000 Guineas alongside Tahiyra and Meditate but it was announced at the end of February that she’d been retired after sustaining a fetlock injury. Wearing a hood each time, all three of her starts came at Newmarket, starting with an impressive debut success in a fillies’ novice on the July course that earned her the ‘large P’ symbol.

It was nearly two months before Commissioning was seen out again in quite a large field for the Rockfel Stakes where she again looked an exciting prospect with a decisive win over another who’d won her only start, Electric Eyes, a good turn of foot putting the race to bed early in the final furlong. As a result, Commissioning stood out on form in the Fillies’ Mile a fortnight later and she duly landed the odds, though without needing to improve again, having a bit in hand nonetheless in beating the May Hill Stakes runner-up Novakai by a length to give John Gosden a sixth win in the race. John & Thady Gosden

Lezoo (112) Zoustar – Roger Sez

Lezoo was the best sprinter among the two-year-old fillies and beaten only once in five starts. She beat more experienced rivals when making a winning debut in a fillies’ novice at Bath in June over five furlongs and was quickly stepped up to listed level next time and showed plenty of improvement to beat some other promising types in the listed Empress Fillies’ Stakes at Newmarket over another furlong. That easy success resulted in Lezoo starting favourite for something of a substandard Duchess of Cambridge Stakes over the same course and distance but she met with her only defeat when beaten half a length by the Albany Stakes runner-up Mawj.

The Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot where she stood out on form proved easier pickings before she was put aside until the autumn when one of seven pattern winners in the field for Cheveley Park Stakes. Running her best race, Lezoo had too much speed for runner-up Meditate, beaten three quarters of a length in second, with Mawj the same distance back in third this time. Lezoo holds a 1000 Guineas entry but she’s a compact, sprinting type on looks and lacking in a bit of scope to progress at three. Ralph Beckett

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