The History of Her Career on the Turf
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THE HI STO RY O F HER CA REER O N THE TU RF o~ _ WITH A PH OT O G RAVU R E F R O N T I S P I E C E AN D TW ENTY-TWO OTH E R ILLU STRATIONS no. I “ r I i . —l ‘ N EW YO RK JOH N LA N E COM PA N Y M OM V U THE HI STORY O F HER CA REER O N T E TU RE W H fia—‘ n—H J M WITH A PHOT O G RAV U R E F R O N T I S P I E C E AN D TW E N TY-TWO OTH E R I L LU STRATIO N S N EW YO RK : JOH N LANE COM PANY M CM V II N D s WI LLI A M BRE ou , LTD. M AJO R E U STA CE LO D E R THE FO RTUN A TE BREEDER A ND O WNER OF THE M A RE O F ALL THE CENTU RIES THIS W ORK I S (BY PERMISSION) D EDICA TED BY THE A UTH OR CON TEN TS C H APT E R I THE COMING OF POLLY C H APT E R I I THE TREBLE EVEN T C H A PT E R I I I THE REVERS E AT LONGCHAMP C H A PT E R I V THE CORO NATION CU P — AND AFTER C H A PT E R V THE LA ST CORONATION OF PRETTY POLLY C H APT E R V I THE T RAGEDY OF AS COT A PP E N D I CE S R F R T A . PEDIG EE O P E TY POLLY ’ S S B . COMPLETE RECORD OF P R ETTY POLLY RACE I LLU STRATI ON S ' ' PRETTY POLLY (Photogravure) F r ontzspzece ’ R T T The ns To ace ae 2 P ET Y POLLY S FIRS RACE ( Fi i h) . f p g GALLIN ULE M R T O t c o t oa s n ass now AD I A I N (Wi h l f l by I i gl , Admirable Crichton) n u P RETTY POLLY (W . Lae p) Cann n u S T M T . o . A AN (K p) ' LITTLE MIS S U S (P retty Polly s Companion) R THE R T Ma en u H EN Y F I S (0 . dd p) P RESTO I I ( By Rueil — Mademoiselle Prefere) MACDONALD I I (By Bay Ronald— Myrtled ene) HAMME RKOP ( By Gallinul e — Concussion) Z INFAN DEL (By P ersimmon— Medora) CAIU S ( By Reverend — Choic e) ’ K R R D . n u HAC LE S P I E ( B Dillo p) . ADULA ( By Gallinu le— Admiration) ACHILLES ( By A vington— Ankl es) CICERO (By Cyllene— Gas) ’ P RETTY P OLLY S T RAINER A ND J OCKEYS ’ Ma r u BACHELOR S BUTTON ( D . he p) MAJOR E USTACE LOD ER E YREFI E LD O THE C RR L DGE , U AGH CLAREHAVE N LODGE , N EWMARKE T CLARE HAVE N OD M RK T Th e taes L GE, NEW A E ( S bl ) C HAPTE R I TH E CO MI N G O F PO L LY A N DOW N PARK was looking its very best on 2 th 1 0 Saturday, June 7 , 9 3 , the concluding after of M noon the First Summer eeting , a date to be ever memorable in the annals of the Turf, for this per ’ fect summer s day was to witness the d ebut of a filly whose name is now writ exceeding large in history, and whose equal as a racehorse the present generation has never seen and , it is safe to add , never will see . The race chosen to be the first essay in public of the chestnut daughter of Gallinule and Admiration , known - as Pretty Polly, was the British Dominion Two Year all Old Race , an d it is the only race in her long career for which she has not started first favourite , that ’ position being occupied by Sir John Thursby s colt , ’ ’ 2 Mr Musker s John o Gaunt , who started at to I , . Jack r 2 Hawtho n being second in demand at 7 to , the Duke B 2 PRETTY POLLY ’ Of Lanfine Portland s coming next at 4 to I , while Pretty Polly was supported at sixes . W hen the barrier ascended , Pretty Polly was quickest into her stride , and before half the journey had been ’ accomplished was out with a ten lengths lead , and won ’ V r ia O Mr e . by that distance from g ; John Gaunt , whom h Thursby had eased up when pursuit was opeless , being third , a neck behind the second . Onlookers were astounded at this display by the eneral winner, and it was at first the g opinion when they saw her out in front of her field with such a tremendous lead that the start must have been a false one . This , however, was by no means the case , as the start was really a good one , and what had really hap pened was that the further they went the further did the winner gallop away from her horses . To Trigg belongs the privilege of having steered her ‘ th is th e initial in race of her glorious career . Any lingering doubts which might have remained in the minds of spectators as to the genuine character of her first Victory were finally dispelled by the manner in Bobrinski M which she disposed of , arsden , and eight M others at the July eeting at Sandown , when she started 2 at to I and won in hollow style by two lengths . Pretty Polly is a dark chestnut with a white star, 1 and now stands sl ightly over 5 3 . TH E COMI NG OF POLLY 3 As a two-year— old she showed tremendous quality of build for that early age . The one thing which impresses any one looking at her more than anything else is her wonderful quarters , which give her that extraordinary leverage power which caused spectators to imagine that she was merely cantering when her Opponents were galloping their very hardest . The daughter of Admiration was bred by her owner, M ajor Eustace Loder, at his stud farm in Ireland , E yrefield Lodge . Her dam was singularly unsuccessful as a racehorse , a fact , by the way, which is not seldom the case with dams of great horses , and it certainly does not follow as a matter Of course that a mare of great racing repu i n tat o achieves a success on going to the stud . Gallinule , her sire , had previously got stock who shone rather as sprinters than stayers , although Rock C Dove , a esarewitch winner , was a notable exception ; but the victories of Hammerkop and of the subject of these pages over a distance of ground have effectually disposed of the fallacy that Gallinules cannot stay . Clarehav en ew Pretty Polly was trained at Lodge , N Mr market , by . Peter Purcell Gilpin , who has achieved such wonderful successes with the mares under his care . I n addition to Pretty Polly , other mares that have 4 PRETTY POLLY achieved distinction under his control during the past two or three years , are Adula , winner of the Park H ill C Stakes , Doncaster ; Hammerkop, winner of the esare 1 0 Of witch , 9 5 ; and Flair, winner the One Thousand 1 06 Guineas , 9 . Following on her success at the Second Summer M eeting at Sandown Park , Pretty Polly annexed the M O ersey Stakes at Liverpool , her solitary pponent on this occasion being the Navaretta colt . The next time that she carried the yellow, dark blue Of sleeves , an d black cap her owner was in the rich C O Of hampagne Stakes , run on the pening afternoon the Doncaster September Meeting . Her chief Opponent on this occasion was reckoned to ’ Mr be . Leopold de Rothschild s bay colt St . Amant , by L r . ov e ule St Frusquin out of Lady , who was con s id ered to be the best two-year— Old of his year among the colts , having up to then run twice and earned winning brackets on each occasion . e Ther was not much between them in the betting , Pretty Polly being in fractionally greater request at 1 1 I O 6 to , whilst to 4 was laid against St . Amant . W . Lane for the first time rode the flying filly , Halsey having had the mount on the last two days she was out , an d the winning connection between these two ’ continued until poor Lane s acci d ent in the autumn Of the following year rendered a separation inevitable . THE COMI NG OF POLLY 5 C The field for the hampagne Stakes numbered five , and the favourite gave them no quarter, for she won in c anter b . a j a length and a half from Lancashire , St fi y Amant being third , two lengths away . ’ Excuses for St . Amant s ignominious defeat were mad e on the ground that the colt had been pricked in shoeing , and it was confidently predicted that when the S pair next met he would make a better how . I n the meantime Pretty Polly travelled to Man ’ chester and beat Don Paez in the Autumn Breeders 2 Foal Plate , starting at 5 to I on . O She then afforded St .