Minding to be a short price in Pretty Polly Stakes

Minding, the winner of the Group 1 English Oaks on June 2, will be a heavy favorite to win her third Group 1 race of 2016 in Sunday’s $279,375 Pretty Polly Stakes for fillies and mares at The Curragh in Ireland.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Minding won the Group 1 English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 1 before finishing second by a head in the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas at The Curragh on May 22. In the English Oaks at 1 1/2 miles, Minding won by 1 3/4 lengths as the 10-11 favorite in the longest start of her eight-race career.

By Galileo, Minding has won six of eight starts for owners Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier, and Michael Tabor.

Minding is the only 3-year-old filly in the Pretty Polly Stakes, which is run at 1 1/4 miles on turf. The competition consists of the group stakes winners Bocca Baciata, Koora, Lucida, and Speedy Boarding.

Speedy Boarding won the Group 2 Prix Corrida Stakes at 1 5/16 miles for fillies and mares at Saint-Cloud Racecourse in Paris on May 29.

JAPAN

Duramente and Last Impact, second and third in the $6 million Dubai Sheema Classic in the United Arab Emirates in March, return to action in Japan in Sunday’s $3.18 million Takarazuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse.

The Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen, which is run at 1 3/8 miles on turf, is part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 5, if the winner is nominated for the Breeders’ Cup program.

More than likely, the Takarazuka Kinen will be a preview of the leading races in Japan in the second half of the year, notably the Grade 1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on Nov. 27.

The Takarazuka Kinen drew a strong field. Duramente won the 2015 Japanese 2000 Guineas and Japanese Derby. Last Impact was second in the Japan Cup last November.

Other contenders include Kitasan Black, Curren Mirotic, and Cheval Grand, the first three finishers of the Group 1 spring running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at Kyoto Racecourse on May 1; and Lovely Day, who won the 2015 Takarazuka Kinen. Lovely Day was fourth in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on April 24.