It was a high summer day on which the heavens opened, the thunder rolled and chaos briefly reigned, but in the end class told. Memories of Enable's saturated 2017 Epsom Oaks flickered, and comparisons with Aidan O'Brien's great race mare Found may soon be made. In the 2025 running of the Group 1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood, Whirl swept aside her rivals with the assurance of a filly who has arrived at the very top of her game.

This was a race that will live in the memory not just for Whirl’s performance, but for the circumstances that surrounded it. Barely an hour before post time, Goodwood was lashed by a violent storm that dumped nearly 30 millimetres of rain in half an hour. Thunder and lightning flashed over the Downs. The going turned officially heavy, and visibility was reduced to a murky blur. Most notably, the starting stalls had to be abandoned, and for the first time in a British Group 1 flat race, a flag start was called.

As the flag went up and the race got underway, Whirl broke cleanly and immediately charted a course along the stands' side rail, a move that proved tactically decisive. From there, Moore was able to control the tempo in conditions that made rhythm and balance crucial. 

Behind Whirl, the race shaped up as expected. See The Fire loomed up threateningly three furlongs out, and Cercene, already a Group 1 winner in the Coronation Stakes, tried to launch a challenge of her own. But it quickly became apparent that Whirl was in no mood to be caught. When Moore asked the question, she opened up and bounded clear.

Crossing the line five lengths to the good, Cercene chased gamely in second; See The Fire, gallant but clearly outstayed in the mud, finished third. The time—just over two minutes and eight seconds—was slower in the conditions than standard, but the visual impression was one of complete authority.

For trainer Aidan O’Brien, Whirl’s win confirmed what many had suspected since her emphatic success in the Pretty Polly Stakes last month: this is a filly of real stature, not just within her own generation but among the broader middle-distance ranks. “She’s just very straightforward,” O’Brien said. “She moves beautifully, she has a big engine, and what’s most exciting is how much she’s still progressing.”

Indeed, this wasn’t the profile of a horse peaking early. Whirl, a homebred daughter of Wootton Bassett, has steadily improved with each outing. Second in the Oaks in June, then victorious at the Curragh, and now a commanding Group 1 winner against older fillies and mares at Goodwood—she’s ascending a very serious curve.

Moore, who has partnered countless top-class horses over the years, was typically reserved but pointed in his praise. “She just keeps doing what she says she’s going to do,” he remarked. “It’s not easy out there, but she never put a foot wrong. She’s improving all the time.”

There’s now talk of York’s Juddmonte International or the Irish Champion Stakes, both open Group 1s against colts. The Prix de l’Opéra or even the Arc may be on the table come autumn, and the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf is a logical transatlantic target. Whatever path connections choose, Whirl has already proven she belongs in the conversation as one of the year’s standout middle-distance performers.