Estrange powers to first Group 1 win in Pretty Polly Stakes

Estrange turned months of near-miss quality into a decisive breakthrough at the Curragh, settling behind the pace before Danny Tudhope asked for more and she surged clear late to land the Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths. The Cheveley Park Stud mare delivered her first Group 1 win with authority, confirming the level she had been hinting at for much of the season.

The 3.55 Curragh feature, a €400,000 Group 1 for fillies and mares over 1m2f, drew eight runners on good-to-firm ground. Estrange carried 9-12, went off the 13/8 favourite and stopped the clock in 2:02.89. One Look chased her home in second, while the official result marked Estrange up to a rating of 116 after the performance.

The win was built on composure as much as raw ability. Tudhope kept Estrange travelling comfortably outside her rivals before moving her up near the final furlong, and once asked, she lengthened in the manner of a mare waiting for exactly that sort of setup. It was a cleaner, more decisive finish than the close calls that had already established her as one of the leading middle-distance fillies and mares in training.

Those previous efforts gave the Pretty Polly victory its weight. Estrange had finished three and a half lengths behind Minnie Hauk in the 2025 Yorkshire Oaks, then went on to take on the best again when she was a general 11-4 favourite for the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot after her Arc plans changed. David O’Meara had said she scoped dirty before a planned Arc run, but later reported she had worked well and was “very much set” for the Ascot target. Earlier this year, she had already won the Listed Lester Piggott Fillies’ Stakes and the Group 2 Lancashire Oaks, underlining the consistency that finally found a top-level prize.

The result also renewed her place in the wider international picture, with the victory briefly pulling her back into the Arc conversation. It strengthened a pedigree record too: Estrange is by Night Of Thunder out of Alienate, and the Pretty Polly brought her sire to 13 individual Group or Grade 1 winners. For Cheveley Park, who bought her for 425,000gns in 2022, it was the kind of return that turns a high-class prospect into a genuine elite mare. Thundering On, the Epsom Oaks winner, was fourth and coughing after the race, while Qilin Queen was reported to have overraced early.