Fillies Mile win was good 1,000 Guineas preparation for Pretty Gorgeous - Joseph O’Brien

Joseph O’Brien believes the experience Pretty Gorgeous gained in winning the Fillies’ Mile will stand her in good stead when she returns to Newmarket for the Qipco 1000 Guineas.
Pleased: 1,000 Guineas hopeful Pretty Gorgeous's trainer, Joseph O'Brien. Picture: PAPleased: 1,000 Guineas hopeful Pretty Gorgeous's trainer, Joseph O'Brien. Picture: PA
Pleased: 1,000 Guineas hopeful Pretty Gorgeous's trainer, Joseph O'Brien. Picture: PA

Having had three battles with the Donnacha O’Brien-trained Shale before the Fillies’ Mile, winning only once, Pretty Gorgeous took advantage of a below-par run from her old rival to win the Group One last October.

“We are very pleased with her. She came through the winter really well and looks fantastic,’’ O’Brien said of Pretty Gorgeous, in a stable tour for Attheraces.com.

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“We haven’t decided yet whether we will run her in a Guineas trial or go straight to the Guineas. We saw last year that she handles soft ground well, but I think she’ll prove quite versatile on that front.

“The experience that she got at Newmarket in the Fillies Mile can do her no harm, with a view to going back there for the 1000 Guineas. I could see her getting a mile-and-a-quarter in due course, for sure.’’

O’Brien has a similar quandary for Thunder Moon, who lost his unbeaten record in the Dewhurst when third – having won the National Stakes on just his second outing.

“He was brilliant for us last year. He was deadly in the National Stakes, and I thought he ran very well in the Dewhurst,’’ said O’Brien.

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“He was drawn in the wrong part of the track that day – and the ground was softer than ideal – so it was a very good run in the circumstances, I thought.

“He came through the winter very well and is in great shape.”

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