West Wind takes on elders

Fresh from victory in the French Oaks at Chantilly on June 10, West Wind will take on older fillies and mares for the first time at the Curragh on Saturday in the Group 1, $336,000 Pretty Polly Stakes.

Trained in France by Henri-Alex Pantall, West Wind is a Machiavellian filly who defeated Mrs Lindsay by 1 1/2 lengths in the French classic when she was ridden by Frankie Dettori, who will misses the ride on Saturday because of a two-day suspension that will also prevent him from riding in Sunday's Irish Derby. Johnny Murtagh replaces him in this 1 1/4-mile contest, won the last two years by Alexander Goldrun.

Peeping Fawn was two lengths third to Finsceal Beo in the Irish 1000 Guineas and a half-length second to Light Shift in the English Oaks. A Danehill filly trained by Aidan O'Brien, she will perhaps give West Wind more than she can handle. She is getting the services of Kieren Fallon, who is free to ride in Ireland pending his September race-fixing trial in London.

Dimenticata was just a neck behind Finsceal Beo in the Irish 1000 and has been freshened since that May 27 classic, while the John Oxx-trained Timarwa, a maiden-winning Daylami filly out of the outstanding Timarida, is very much on the improve.

The Michael Stoute-trained Echelon, the winner earlier this season of the 1 1/8-mile Group 3 Dahlia Stakes, will put her stamina to the test in the Pretty Polly, but a bigger threat from the older generation may come from Musical Way, a Group 3 winner at the distance at Maisons-Laffitte who was just 1 1/4 lengths third to Mandesha in the 1 5/16-mile Group 2 Prix Corrida last month.