Emily Upjohn© Photo Healy Racing
The Group 1 Cairn Community Games Pretty Polly Stakes has attracted a final field of eight runners for a stellar renewal of the feature race at the Curragh on Saturday.
Once again the €300,000 contest has attracted strong British representation which is headed by Ralph Beckett’s Bluestocking alongside the John and Thady Gosden-trained Emily Upjohn.
The Juddmonte owned Bluestocking was a narrow runner-up in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks last year, while Emily Upjohn was forced to miss her intended engagement in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks two years ago but is on course to tackle Saturday’s fascinating Group 1 contest.
John Gosden, who won the race 30 years ago with Del Deya and subsequently with Dar Re Mi and Izzi Top, commented: “In fairness to Emily Upjohn we trained her in the winter to go to Dubai and that doesn’t agree with a lot of fillies.
“We let her down in April and she really did herself well. I was having a little trouble getting her back in the zone again and she very much needed her race in the Coronation Cup. She was carrying plenty of weight and condition, but she worked well on the July Course and she’ll head for what looks like a very competitive edition of the Pretty Polly.”
Ralph Beckett is hoping to add another major Curragh Group 1 race to his record having won the 2022 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby with Westover and Beckett is excited about the prospect of returning to the Curragh with Bluestocking.
“It’s all systems go all things being equal,” the trainer confirmed. “She’s in good shape and I have been very pleased with her since York.
“We were very keen to stick with running against her own sex and it’s what the race is written for, these fillies running to take each other on and we’ll be looking forward to doing exactly that. We are looking forward to it.”
Five of the eight runners in the Cairn Community Games Pretty Polly Stakes are British-trained. The Hughie Morrison-trained Stay Alert, who won the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket on Guineas weekend, is a notable inclusion alongside the Sir Mark Prescott-trained Tasmania and the Charlie Johnston-trained Francophone who scored at Goodwood last time.
Joseph O’Brien will seek a third win in the race as a trainer when saddling Lumiere Rock and Maxux, while his father Aidan relies on Content.
