Great Record Of 

 Pretty Polly 



By WARREN HILL 



MY reference In last week's 

 letter to Pretty Polly's mis- 

 adventure — not of her own 

 'fault — which was thought, in 

 the stable, to have lost her the 

 Ascot Cup, and to the Epsom 

 and Ascot courses as being 

 trappy in some degree, have 

 brought me enquiring letters 

 from two North-country 

 readers. 



The one asks whether siioh an 

 accident as was tJhiis one to. a first- 

 class racehorse, or the lU-luck 

 which befell Colombo. Shogun. and 

 others: in the Derby, and Rhodora 

 in the Oaks, could have happened 

 had tiie running taken place on 

 such .spaciou.s cour.'^es as York and 

 Doncaster. 



The other question is whether 

 Pretty Polly, in view of her two 

 defeats, was an out-and-out 

 stayer, like sohie Gold Cup con- 

 testants which my correspon- 

 dent mentions. 



SPACIOUS YORK 



II IS not because I ain Irom the 

 NorUi Country that I hold up both 

 hands for York and Doncaster as 

 oeing fairer battle-grounds than 

 Ep.som and Ascot,, in t/he sense 

 that, chances are the le.ss in- 

 fiuenced by ill-luck on the two 

 colu'ses in Yorkshuv. 



I have freqxiently wallced them 

 alt. and can ronlinii wlml a visilof 

 might gather, on first ucciuaiiilance. 

 from a bird's eye view from the best 

 position on the .staudsj that the 

 broader sweep of the tracl^s on 

 Town Moor and Knavesniire atlords 

 the ninners more '* elbow-room " at 

 the turn.s. 



In tliis respect York is. In my per- 

 sonal opinion. ne,xt up with New- 

 marlcet, where there is only one turn 

 on either of the tracks, while, wlien 

 the late Colonel Wilkinson, who 

 lived at adjoining Dringhouses. was 

 in charge, the surface conditions. 

 considering that it was an open 

 coui>e. were excellent. 



'Like Mr Marriott iiere, he was 

 expert on matters concerning herb- 

 age. 



Perhaps Nature. In respect of sub- 

 soil conditions, was helpful. 



With regard to Pretty Polly's 

 stamina, one would not, of course, 

 olace this on nearly so high a 

 Diane as that attained by a whole 

 gallery of celebrities, amongst 

 whom I would include mentbers ' 

 of hcir own sex such as La Fleche 

 . and. on her best day. Scentre, | 



MAKER'S OPINION j 



One of, our greatest authorities ' 

 in the training profession and who. 1 

 at over eighty years ol age. is still 

 turning out winners, and has had I 

 some of the best racers at all dis- ! 

 tances in his charge would reply 

 with an emphatic negative If a.sked 

 il Pretty Polly was a genuine stayer. 



Such opinion was confirmed* bv 

 the late " Danny ". Maher. who rode 

 her when she was beaten in her 

 Paris race as a three-year-old, and 

 againsr her. sub.seQucnlly. when she 

 twice met Bachelors Button. 



My friendship with Mailer could 

 be said to have dated from the 

 afternoon of his first public appear- 

 ance in England on the old course 



at \TanrlipQt-«vf 



(Willie Standrlng) 



wiih hff„?i'^.,|.',)« 'I'"* When Sloan 



"rt"Ske°Va'i''ii«ii»>e".e«r?c'l 



boldened to givft liim a cheery Lau- 

 caslilre welcome. 



Such was just as the flicker of 

 the hghtest feiather in the air 

 com oared with the reception 

 Maher got a little later when re- 

 turning from the wmnina ride on 

 Paiute. and when the crowd re- 

 cognised that a likely rival to 

 Sloan had come amongst us. 

 I But ilie chuuce meeiliig ulhided 

 1 to has always remained u pleasaiii 

 ! memory with the writer. 

 j It • began a iiappy association 

 I which lasted to .the end of the great 

 j jockey's career in the .saddle. Ii 

 ripened into .soini'lhmg much more 

 than a casual acquainlancesiiip. 



Success never led lo Maher 

 havhig ail inflatefl opinion ot him- 

 self, as was the case with others in 

 the san^e profession who came frdni 

 the Oliver side of the Atlantic. 



He may have appeared, after his 

 rise to fame, to he petulant at 

 times, and would get verv cjposs 

 with jockeys who. he considered, 

 had not strictly observed riding 

 etiquette. He did not. by the way, 

 observe this every time. 



He invariably abided by. his own 



opinion concerning uicidents 



emerging: from hi-s own riding. 



although they did not coincide with 



tlie views of others, and wliiclx led 



in one case lo the severance of his 



connection with a leading owner. 



Reverting to my correspondent's 



auestion concerning Pretty Polly's 



stamina, such had appeared open 



to be challenged when she went 



over to Paris in the autumn of 



her three-year-old days and was 



beaten by Presto II, who was in 



receipt of I0lb. the older Zinfan- 



dei finishing third. 



GREY TICK'S WIN 



The last nained-s moderate potl- 

 tiou recalled that it was in simi- 

 larly heavy going that he had just 

 narrowly lost the Cc'sarewitch the 

 pt-evlous October to the leather- 

 weighed Grey Tic-k when he was 

 carrying' 8st 411) on his three-year-old 

 back. 



1 can now picture him. in the 

 mind's eye. .struggling hard, but uu- 

 avLiilingly. in tlie Alungdoii Dip. 

 which so much resembled a swamp. 



He was a very good lior.se. and 

 would probably \\A\e won all three 

 classics that year in face of Rock 

 Sand but for his entries bscoming 

 void owing to the death of Col. 

 McCahnont. - 



Yei Preilv Polly, despite having 

 had a delayed and 1)ad journey over 

 ttie Channel, ljc.it him on the occu- 

 i^ion mcnitoned. and continued the 

 form when they reopposcd month.s 

 afterwards Iti Uie Coronation Cup 

 on sounder going. 



The Paris winner. Pro.sto MI had 



not long before Ijeen successful by 



j, similar tactics — estabushing the lead 



from the start and ttdding to it — so 



that he was never quite caught. 



r In the clrcnmstauce.s, Maher. who. 

 rode Pretty Polly at short notice, 

 may have been a little prematui'e In 

 adjudging that she WB8 not a tru» 

 slayer. 



UNLUCKY LOSER 



But lu" was empll.itlc on the points 

 the following sea.-,on. after the mare 

 had narrowly beaten Bachelor's 

 Button in the Jockey Club Cup, and 

 when the two met again in the 

 Ascot Cup his opinion tlmt the 

 " Button " was the stouter was al 

 least rellected by the result. 



This was Pretty Polly's lln'al Bi>- ; 

 pearanc'e in piUuic, and, wltelher 

 or not she was at her best, this was 

 the only time in her career when 

 she took so much persuasion to fol- 

 low her regular companion. Little 

 Missle. on to the course for the 

 preliminary canter. 



She nevertheless was a strong 



adds-on favourite, and I fancy 



very many people who saw the 



race will share the writer's oninion 



that she was a most unlucky loser 



Bachelors Button was a good 



stout horse in his class. His was *' 



flukilv-gained victory, however, in 



this Ascot Cup. Yet the winning 



of it would no{ have entitled the 



mare to equal rank with some other 



celebrities we have seen contesting 



the corresponding event. 



■What greatly stands to her credit 

 Is the record of twenty-two victories 

 in twenty-four starts. 



COURSE WINNERS' 



Brown Jack, during his sequence 

 ot Queen Alexandra Stakes vic- 

 tories, had generally a weak opposi- 

 tion to tackle, but he also won the 

 handicap Ascot Stakes. 



Since ,his da? Frawn has scored 

 twice in the corresponding event 

 and in the long ago the same feat 

 was performed by Lord Lome and 

 Teviotdale. Each was substantially 

 advanced in the weights in con- 

 nection with the second attempt 



Aptitude over the particular jour- 

 ney, with its undulations during 

 the earlv and middle stages, and 

 the long, gradual climb out of 

 Swinley Bottom, has to be credited 

 to exponents such as the.se were. 

 At the spot just mentioned, 

 though, there have been cases of 

 interference and crowding, to the 

 detriment of well-fancied com- 

 netitors, and at least one fall. 

 Opinion in the Clarehaven" stable 

 oil the occasion ot Pretty Pollv's 

 Gold Cup defeat by Bachelor's 

 Button, was -that the mare would 

 iiave won but for being carried wide 

 at the far side turn when St. Denis,' 

 ,who was in tlie lead, ran acro.s,s the 

 course. And this in a field of five! 



./ 



^/\Y 1948 



" DARKIE " MYLES 



Death has taken place recently of 

 F. Myles, who, for over 45 years, 

 has been known in the racing 

 world. 



I When with the late Michael 

 Dawson at The Curragh he looked 

 I after such famous horses as Bacne- 

 I lor's Button when that horse beat 

 Pretty Polly at Ascot, Avnall. Mel- 

 font, Ugly Duckling, and Arravale, 

 a good 'chaser. 



J. Canty ana J. Moloney will 

 remember him. and he was also 

 known to the late Fred Fox. He 

 was always referred to as "Darkle." 

 At the time of his death he was 

 employed by Jack Scott at Let- 

 combe, for whom his son. W. E. 

 Myles. rides under National Hunt 

 Rules. 



