Pretty Gorgeous Strikes a Winning Pose in Fillies' Mile

Shane Crosse gained "huge" compensation for forfeiting the winning ride in the Pertemps St. Leger (G1) when registering his first group 1 success on Pretty Gorgeous in the bet365 Fillies' Mile (G1), the feature on Day 1 of Dubai Future Champions Day.

The 19-year-old tested positive for COVID-19 before the Doncaster Classic and last month was forced to watch as his intended mount, Galileo Chrome, obliged in gritty fashion under supersub Tom Marquand.

Given a second bite of the cherry by his boss, Joseph O'Brien, Crosse made no mistake when steering the 5-2 favorite home from the fast-finishing Indigo Girl at Newmarket.

It was a second win in three years for O'Brien in the mile contest, which is proving to be the most productive source of subsequent QIPCO One Thousand Guineas (G1) winners, and Pretty Gorgeous was unsurprisingly cut to the 6-1 favorite (from 14) for glory back at the Rowley Mile next May.

Settled in midpack in the early stages behind the pace-setting Isabella Giles, Pretty Gorgeous hit a flat spot at the bushes but got rolling into the dip to show ahead on the climb to the line and had enough up her sleeve to hold the late surge of the runner-up.

Crosse said: "This is huge. There may be no crowd and no atmosphere, but once you are on the horse's back, it doesn't make a difference.

"I just flashed by the line there, and to get my first group 1 under my belt at Newmarket is unbelievable. This filly has given me a few great days already, but this is the best of my life.

"She must be a One Thousand Guineas filly after that as she has loads of speed and she's a miler. Hopefully, all her best days are ahead of her."

On his own torment, he added: "This takes a lot of edge off what happened in the St. Leger, which you wouldn't want to wish on your worst enemy. I ended up watching a race at home I didn't want to watch."

O'Brien said: "Pretty Gorgeous has done that well considering she went to France last weekend, where we had to withdraw her and then send her over here. She has the option of the Breeders' Cup, but I think we'll put her away for the Guineas after that."

On runner-up Indigo Girl, trainer John Gosden said: "It's hard to come from behind on that ground, and it may well be that she's a mile-and-a-quarter filly next year. Her sister won over a mile and a half here, and it's a family we know well."