O'Brien filly: No win but lots to like in pedigree

When does a horse win its maiden in a Group 1 race? It could be on Saturday when Remember When goes in the $264,000 Pretty Polly Stakes, a 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares at the Curragh. A 3-year-old daughter of Danehill Dancer trained by Aidan O'Brien, Remember When is not only winless in four starts, she will be facing older females for the first time, yet she is the 11-10 favorite in a tentative field of nine.

Remember When was just a half-length fourth in the one-mile Irish 1000 Guineas, but finished a short head in front of stablemate and subsequent Group 1 Coronation Stakes winner Lillie Langtry that day. Stepped up to 1 1/2 miles for the English Oaks, she acquitted herself well when she was 2 1/4 lengths third to Snow Fairy. But it is her pedigree that catches the eye. Remember When is a three-quarter-sister to Dylan Thomas, whose six Group 1 victories included the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. She is also a half-sister to Queen's Logic, whose career ended prematurely early in her 3-year-old season after five victories without a loss, among them the juvenile Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes. Johnny Murtagh will ride.

The Jim Bolger-trained Akdarena is the best of four other 3-year-olds in the field. The winner of the 1 1/4-mile, Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes, she tried to take them all the way in the English Oaks, only to weaken into sixth place. She lost considerable weight in the aftermath of that race, however, and is not a certain starter on Saturday.

The consistent 5-year-old Chinese White won the Group 2 Blandford Stakes over the Pretty Polly course and distance in September and was a decent third behind Fame and Glory in the 1 5/16-mile, Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup five weeks ago. Pat Smullen will get a leg up on this Dalakhani mare from Dermot Weld. Flying Cloud is a lightly raced 4-year-old who won the 1 1/2-mile, Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot last year. She returned from a seven-month absence to finish a fine third behind Sariska and Midday in the 1 5/16-mile, Group 2 Middleton Stakes at York on May 13. The Godolphin-owned filly will be ridden by Frankie Dettori.

Three-year-olds in Europe get 12 pounds on the scale going 10 furlongs at this time of year, so Remember When will carry 123 pounds, while Chinese White and Flying Cloud tote 135.By Alan Shuback

When does a horse win its maiden in a Group 1 race? It could be on Saturday when Remember When goes in the $264,000 Pretty Polly Stakes, a 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares at the Curragh. A 3-year-old daughter of Danehill Dancer trained by Aidan O'Brien, Remember When is not only winless in four starts, she will be facing older females for the first time, yet she is the 11-10 favorite in a tentative field of nine.

Remember When was just a half-length fourth in the one-mile Irish 1000 Guineas, but finished a short head in front of stablemate and subsequent Group 1 Coronation Stakes winner Lillie Langtry that day. Stepped up to 1 1/2 miles for the English Oaks, she acquitted herself well when she was 2 1/4 lengths third to Snow Fairy. But it is her pedigree that catches the eye. Remember When is a three-quarter-sister to Dylan Thomas, whose six Group 1 victories included the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. She is also a half-sister to Queen's Logic, whose career ended prematurely early in her 3-year-old season after five victories without a loss, among them the juvenile Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes. Johnny Murtagh will ride.

The Jim Bolger-trained Akdarena is the best of four other 3-year-olds in the field. The winner of the 1 1/4-mile, Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes, she tried to take them all the way in the English Oaks, only to weaken into sixth place. She lost considerable weight in the aftermath of that race, however, and is not a certain starter on Saturday.

The consistent 5-year-old Chinese White won the Group 2 Blandford Stakes over the Pretty Polly course and distance in September and was a decent third behind Fame and Glory in the 1 5/16-mile, Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup five weeks ago. Pat Smullen will get a leg up on this Dalakhani mare from Dermot Weld. Flying Cloud is a lightly raced 4-year-old who won the 1 1/2-mile, Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot last year. She returned from a seven-month absence to finish a fine third behind Sariska and Midday in the 1 5/16-mile, Group 2 Middleton Stakes at York on May 13. The Godolphin-owned filly will be ridden by Frankie Dettori.

Three-year-olds in Europe get 12 pounds on the scale going 10 furlongs at this time of year, so Remember When will carry 123 pounds, while Chinese White and Flying Cloud tote 135.