Ouija Board passes over to the other side

Trainer Ed Dunlop has paid tribute to Classic heroine and seven-time Group One winner Ouija Board after her death at the age of 21.

The dark bay was by Cape Cross and was both bred and owned by Lord Derby having been foaled in March 2001 at his Stanley House Stud in Newmarket.

Her two-year-old season included a novice win and a placed Listed run, but it was as a three-year-old that she really came to the fore when taking Newmarket's Pretty Polly Stakes before going on to an imperious victory in the Oaks at Epsom – a fantastic seven-length success in the fillies’ Classic.

That triumph was then followed by another in the Irish equivalent of the race, after which she was beaten only a length and a quarter when not afforded the smoothest passage through the 2004 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp.

The Breeders’ Cup Filly And Mare Turf, held that season at Lone Star Park, followed, and from a field of 12 the filly prevailed when crossing the line a length and a half ahead of her nearest rival.

The following year she was campaigned internationally again, finishing runner-up when contesting the Breeders’ Cup Filly And Mare Turf for a second time before landing an impressive victory in the Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin.

In her final season she mixed domestic Group Ones with those further afield, taking the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot before battling to land the Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood by a short head from Alexander Goldrun.

After missing out on the Irish Champion Stakes by a neck as Dylan Thomas came out on top, Ouija Board then set sail for Churchill Downs and regained her Breeders’ Cup Filly And Mare Turf crown before making the final start of her career in the Japan Cup – coming home third behind Deep Impact