Fifteen victories were to her 

 credit when it was decided to 

 let her show herself to her Conti- 

 nental admirers Consequently 

 she was sent over to Prance to 

 run in the Conseil Municipale. 

 but her luck changed. 



FIRST DEFEAT 



Owing to appalling weather she 

 was delayed, at Folkestone, then 

 had a terrible crossing. Rain fell 

 in torrents, and the going was 

 hock deep 



Zinfandel and Macdonald II, 

 the Prmch champion three-.vear- 

 olds. were considered her most 

 dangerous opponents, and to a 

 certain e.\tent these calculations 

 were right, for Pretty Polly was 

 second. Zinfandel third, and Mac- 

 donald II fourth, all three being 

 beaten easily by Presto 11. against 

 whom odds of 66 to 1 were obtain- 

 able. 



Excuses offered for her defeat 

 were that the going was e.xtremely 

 heavy and she had suffered a bad 

 crossing, but the general opinion 

 of contemporary writers was that 

 she ought to have won. 



D IMaher. her jockey, thinking 

 the outsider was bound to come 

 back to him. allowed Presto II to 

 retain a long lead, which Pretty 

 Polly was unable to reduce when 

 the crucial moment arrived. 



NOT AT HER BEST 



According to the Calendar, 

 though the weights carried are dis- 

 puted. Pretty Polly was conceding 

 9Ib to the winner and the saying 

 that you can give weight away and 

 you can give distance, but you can- 

 not give iroth proved right. 



However. Pretty Polly soon made 

 amends for this defeat, for she won 

 the Free Handicap with 9st 71b In 

 the saddle in a canter 



At four years Pretty Polly again 

 beat Zinfandel In a canter In th3 

 Coronation Cup. and did the fast- 

 est time for the Epsom 11 miles 

 tlien recorded To this victory she 

 added the Champion Stakes Lime- 

 kiln Stakes and the Jockey Club 

 Cup of 2 miles s furlongs, and re- 

 tired at the end of the season with 

 an unbeaten certificate. 



At five years Pretty Polly won the 

 March Stakes, the Coronation Cup 

 for the second time but met defeat 

 for the second time in her career 

 in the Ascot Gold Cup won by 

 Bachelor's Button. 



Whether on this fateful day 

 Pretty Pollv was at her best is open 

 to discussion for she had a wart 

 on her abdomen, which had to be 

 lanced on the day of the race, and 

 it was noticed that for the first 

 time in her glorious career she was 

 reluctant to leave the paddock 



She was defeated- but not dis- 

 graced, for she only succumbed to 

 Bachelor's Button by a length, after 

 a desnerate race. 



Thus ended the racing career ol 

 a great and loveable mare Her 

 reputation might have been even 

 greater, for there can be no doubt 

 that, had she been entered for the 

 Two Thousand Guineas and the 

 Derby she would have won them 

 both. 



Thus she would have stood out 

 in bold relief as the only mare to 

 win all the Ave classics — a feat yet 

 to be accomplished. G. L. F. 



