Quiff (horse)

Quiff made her first and only appearance as a juvenile on 22 August 2003 when she contested a maiden race over seven furlongs at Newmarket Racecourse. She was ridden by Richard Hughes and started the 9/4 favourite against seven opponents. She started slowly and never looked likely to win, finishing fifth behind Why Dubai.[5]

On her three-year-old debut Quiff was ridden by Brett Doyle in a ten furlong maiden at Salisbury Racecourse on 13 May and started 7/2 second favourite behind the Godolphin filly Dawn Surprise. After tracking the leaders she overtook Dawn Surprise entering the final furlong and won "comfortably" by a length, with a gap of five lengths back to the best of the other eight runners.[6] Quiff was then moved up sharply in class for the Group Two Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot on 17 June and was ridden for the first time by Kieren Fallon. She was made favourite against eight opponents headed by Punctilious, who had finished third to Ouija Board in The Oaks. After being restrained by Fallon in the early stages, she struggled to obtain a clear run in the straight before finishing strongly to take third behind Punctilious and Sahool.[7]

Quiff met Punctilious and Sahool again when she was moved up to Group One class for the Yorkshire Oaks on soft ground at York Racecourse on 18 August and started second choice in the betting behind the Ribblesdale winner. The other five runners were Hazarista (third in the Irish Oaks), the four-year-old Pongee, winner of her last four races, Danelissima (Noblesse Stakes), Royal Tigress (Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial Stakes) and Menhoubah (Oaks d'Italia). After being held up by Fallon in the early running she began to make progress at half way and took the lead more than three furlongs from the finish. In the closing stages she drew away from her rivals to win by eleven lengths from Pongee who took second ahead of Hazarista.[8] The BBC described her performance as "hugely impresive [sic]".[9] After the race Stoute indicated that the filly might well take on colts in the classic St Leger, saying "She's a very progressive filly. The race didn't pan out right for her at Royal Ascot and she may have been unlucky not to win. She's just a good filly. She's on the up. I would certainly be tempted to go the Leger route".[10]

In the St Leger over fourteen and a half furlongs at Doncaster on 11 September, Quiff was the only filly in the nine-runner field and started 3/1 joint favourite alongside the colt Rule of Law, the runner-up in The Derby. The ground was much firmer than at York, and her connections had considered withdrawing her on the eve of the race.[11] After tracking the leaders, Fallon attempted to make a run up the inside rail but then switched to the outside approaching the last quarter mile. She finished strongly, but failed by a head to overhaul Rule of Law.[12] in what the BBC described as a "thrilling finish".[13] Fallon commented "She has run a terrific race. I thought we were going to get there, but there had been no pace and the winner pulled out a little bit more when we got to him. The ground didn't really suit her. It's a pity we didn't have the rain – things might have been different."[14]

Quiff remained in training as a four-year-old in 2005 and made her debut in the Gordon Richards Stakes over ten furlongs at Sandown Park Racecourse on 23 April. Ridden by Mick Kinane, she started 8/11 favourite but never recovered from a poor start and finished fourth of the eight runners behind the five-year-old gelding Weightless.[15]