I SPEND a lot of time here talking about the horses that caught the eye when they didn’t win, but this week I want to focus on a horse that did, writes Page Fuller.

Bedtime Story went off the long odds on favourite at the Curragh in the Debutante Stakes last Saturday (4:05pm) and despite the winning margin, I think she looked very special.

They went steady enough to start, setting Bedtime Story alight a little. Ryan Moore did well to get cover and keep her conserved, and despite burning a little bit too much fuel to start, she had lots of running to make easy work of her rivals.

Her electric turn of foot into the sixth furlong was plain to see and the 10.64 second furlong she posted at that point put her quickly on top of her rivals. Some may argue a 1/16 favourite should be winning by more than half a length, but it is also hard to quicken past horses that are also quickening, as they were on Saturday due to the steady pace set.

What was particularly eye-catching was her stride length as she quickened. She hit a peak stride length of 7.99m in that second-last furlong, identical to that of Henri Mattisse in the previous race. Bearing in mind her stablemate is a dual Group 2-winning colt, that makes her stride pretty impressive.

Her combination of raw speed and stamina looks hard to pick holes in. While you would like to think she’ll be lining up in the 1000 Guineas next year, it seems like she would be very versatile for any trip in the lead up to that.