THE Gredleys are enjoying a great year with their Oasis Dream (Green Desert) two-year-old Pretty Pollyanna. She beat the boys to land the Group 1 Darley Prix Morny, adding to her victory in July at Newmarket in the Group 2 Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes.

Hard to imagine that the owners retained her as a yearling in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale last year for just 50,000gns, significantly less than the £75,000 stud fee of her sire in the year her dam Unex Mona Lisa (Shamardal) was bred to him at Banstead Manor Stud. Pretty Pollyanna was bred at the Gredley’s Stetchworth and Middle Park Studs.

The third foal and winner for her dam, she joins Preobrajenska (Paco Boy) and Roulette (Poet’s Voice) on that winner’s rostrum. The first named won for William Jarvis and she sold for a barely believable 2,500gns – as a winner – at the Tattersalls July Sale last year to Kildaragh Stud.

She must be a favourite for the title of bargain buy of the year!

The pedigree is likely to improve further in the future, given that Unex Mona Lisa has a yearling colt by Nathaniel (Galileo) and a colt foal by New Approach, also a son of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells). Unex Mona Lisa is a half-sister to five winners, notably the Grade 3 Robert J Frankel Stakes winner Gender Agenda (Holy Roman Emperor), and their dam Friendlier (Zafonic) is an unraced half-sister to User Friendly (Slip Anchor).

Bill Gredley bred and initially raced User Friendly when she was trained by Clive Brittain. For him she was a triple classic winner, landing the Group 1 Oaks at Epsom, the Group 1 Irish Oaks at the Curragh and the Group 1 St Leger at Doncaster. She also was successful at the highest level in both the Yorkshire Oaks and the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. She lost nothing in defeat when collared in the last strides and was beaten a neck in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Pretty Pollyanna is the 17th Group 1 winners for Oasis Dream, and the second in 2018 following Polydream’s victory in the Prix Maurice de Gheest. Midday, Jawala, Lady Jane Digby and Tuscan Evening are other Group or Grade 1 winning daughters of Oasis Dream. Pretty Pollyanna is now a member of a very select group of fillies.

Breeders, stallion masters and readers are invited to contact Leo Powell at leopowell@theirishfield.ie with news and updates for the column, and to visit our website www.theirishfield.ie for daily breeding news