30 Mar 2020: Some racehorses live up to expectations, some don't, while a few exceed all expectations as they go through their racing careers. Unwanted Beauty, a real bargain when picked out by our good friend and talent scout Walter Buick at the Tattersalls Sales in February 2019, is definitely of the latter category. This lovely daughter of Iffraaj cost just 12,000 guineas. That's not much, for a filly good enough to break her maiden in a classic, and then go on to confirm her class with two excellent runs in very strong company against older horses later on in her three-year-old season. And the best news is; she is bred to improve with age, and there could well be better still to come from this lady.

Unwanted Beauty was a bit of a surprise as she burst on to the top scene with an impressive win in the Tattersalls Norwegian 1,000 Guineas at Øvervoll last June. That she also gave Annike her first classic winner was a bonus. Perfectly ridden by Sandro De Pavia, Unwanted Beauty proved way too good for her eight rivals in the Guineas, run over a good turf course. She outclassed For The Roses, a nice shipper from Sweden, to win the race by 3 ½ lengths, looking like she had more in hand as she passed the winning post. It was her second start in Norway, coming just over three weeks after she had finished third on her seasonal debut, and there were some rumours of a sharp piece of work leading up to the big race. Still, most horseplayers found it hard to believe that a maiden could win the Guineas. They sent her off at 15-1. Thus, her supporters were handsomely rewarded, as were her connections. For The Roses, a good winner in Sweden both before and after the race, was also a longshot – though looking at those further down this classic chart it reads well. Ramone, the best Scandinavian bred juvenile filly in 2018, filled third place, while the Wido Neuroth trained Novelle Lune checked in fourth ahead of her stable companion Beau Nuage. Nouvelle Lune went on to crush the field in the Swedish Oaks and sha was also third in the Norwegian Derby. Beau Nuage ran third in the Swedish Oaks, having finished fourth in the Swedish 1,000 Guineas. Unwanted Beauty's Guineas form was solid, no doubt about that.

Not that, as the season unfolded, she needed any assitance from others to prove the point. Unwanted Beauty went for a handicap race over 1730 metres in late July. Facing older horses, she was running off handicap 82 and carried 60 kg. It looked a stiff enough task and she was well up to it, running out an easy winner once more, incidentally scoring by the same margin as in the 1,000 Guineas. Lord Of Trouble (a winner of 7 races) finished second and Anachronist (with 6 wins in the book) filled third spot. This time, Unwanted Beauty went off favourite. She was well backed also as she took another step up in class, and more importantly, a big step up in distance, in the Erik O Steen Memorial, run over 2400 metres on Derby day a month later. This event, formerly run as the Peuogeot Pokalløp, has a long history and is one of the most important races for fillies and mares in Scandiavia. Unwanted Beauty went close to winning again, but she was beaten a length by the upset winner Swan Black, who ran the race of her life to take down the valuable prize. Did Unwanted Beauty fail to stay? That's a tough question. She did not win, but she had smart performers like Zahara, Angel Love – even the 2018 Derby winner High as a Kite – behind her. Who would argue that Unwanted Beauty failed to see out the trip if we take the fluke winner Swan Black out the chart? Not many. Still, it is fair to assume that Unwanted Beauty, with her excellent speed, is better suited by shorter distances.

She made her last start of the 2019 season in the Lanwades Stud Stakes (LR) over 1600 metres at Bro Park in September, but finished last of eight, 4 ½ lengths behind multiple stakes winner Appelina, who defeated the English trained Mamoora, a filly who proved good enough to run third to Magic Lily in the Balanchine Stakes (G3) in Dubai this winter. Unwanted Beauty's run at Bro Park was disappointing but actually it wasn't too bad a performance. Appelina's handicap rating is 90 kg, making her one of the best horses in Scandinavia. Let's hope that Unwanted Beauty can take the step up to that level as a four-year-old. She does not have many miles on the clock and her half-brother, Exceeding Power, a nine-year-old still in training in England, produced his career best form at eight Tow other half siblings, Little Black Book and Poet's Beauty, won good races in England as four-year-olds, so there must be a fair chance that last year's 1,000 Guineas winner will progress with age. GS 29 Mar 20