Polly Grey to Chase NZ G1

Media Release - Tuesday December 20

Quality mare Polly Grey will be given the opportunity to boost her future broodmare value and attain millionaire status during a brief homecoming.

The New Zealand-bred mare will depart from her adopted home in Sydney on Wednesday for a one-off crack at the Gr.1 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Pukekohe on Boxing Day.

Polly Grey is headed back her homeland - image Steve Hart

Polly Grey is headed back her homeland - image Steve Hart

The well-related daughter of Azamour is a stakes winner on both sides of the Tasman and elite-level success would crown the terrific ride the mare has given her connections, which includes her former trainer Kylie Fawcett.

“She is just coming over for the Zabeel Classic, there’s not really anything else for her so we’re giving it a go,” the Matamata-based horsewoman said.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on the weather and ideally we would like quite a rain-affected track.”

Advertisement

The winner of more than NZ$960,000, Polly Grey’s 11 career victories have all been posted on soft or heavy ground, but the eight-year-old isn’t totally one-dimensional.

“She still has run very well on better tracks in Australia without winning. She has been right there a number of times,” Fawcett said.

She prepared Polly Grey to win six races, including the Listed Matamata Cup (1600m) and placed in both the Gr.2 Japan Trophy (1600m) and the Gr.3 Thompson Handicap (1600m).

In her subsequent Australian career with champion trainer Chris Waller, she has been the dual Group Three winner of the Epona Handicap (1900m) and the Japan Racing Association Plate (2000m).

Polly Grey has also claimed the Listed Gosford Cup (2100m), Listed Lord Mayor’s Cup (2000m) and the Listed ATC Cup (2000m) and posted multiple black-type placings.

“She has been terrific, she’s been an absolute gem for us,” Fawcett said.

Polly Grey has run three times this campaign and finished a first-up fourth in the Gr.3 Angst Stakes (1600m) and was then seventh in the Gr.2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) before an unplaced effort in the Gr.2 The Ingham (1600m).

“She’ll go back after the Zabeel and get ready for one more prep in the autumn and hopefully through to Brisbane before she goes to the broodmare paddock,” Fawcett said.

“We are going to keep her and get her in foal. That’s why we have raced her on a bit as we’re going to breed to race.

“Initially, we will probably send her to a stallion in Australia and then bring her back here in foal.

“We were tossing up getting her in foal last season and we looked at a couple of stallions, but decided to race on.”

The mare is a daughter of the Zenno Rob Roy mare Allanah, who was successful on four occasions, and she is a half-sister to the Gr.1 Easter Handicap (1600m) winner Pasta Post and the Gr.3 Hawke’s Bay Gold Cup winner Dom Domingo (2200m).

Polly Grey’s hit and run Group One mission aside, Fawcett will be enjoying a quieter Christmas racing period.

“I won’t be having any runners, all my racing team are in the paddock and I’ve just got a handful of young ones coming up,” she said. – NZ Racing Desk

Advertisment
More Reading...
Back to Business for Te Akau
Following a busy week in Auckland, it’s back to business as usual for Mark Walker, with the Te Akau trainer heading back across the Tasman to oversee his Cranbourne base.
The Canonbury Stakes - Often a Guide to Stardom
Saturday’s Canonbury Stakes at Rosehill has been used in recent years as the starting point for two of Chris Waller’s superstars (neither of them winning by the way) and the race is often one of the autumn’s strongest leads so let’s have a closer look.
Star Debut 2YO Winner for Spirit of Boom
Queensland favourite Spirit of Boom is having a hot run with this juveniles this season and posted his eighth winner from 15 starters when the Chris Waller trained filly Karinska saluted at Canterbury on Friday night.
Polly Belts Them in JRA Plate
The Chris Waller-trained Polly Grey took eleven starts to break her duck in Australia but has become a regular visitor to the winner's circle.
No Secret - Middlebrook Valley Lodge Classic Quality
Middlebrook Valley Lodge had the honour of offering the very first horse into the sale ring at Inglis Classic last year when they sold a King’s Legacy filly from Vain Elaine for $150,000 and she is now exciting filly Open Secret, who is set to take her place in the $2million ATC Inglis Millennium next Saturday.
Stakes Goals for Shamexpress Filly
Stakes assignments await promising filly Miss Madridista following her impressive 5-1/4 length victory in the Norwegian Park 1200 at Te Rapa on Friday.
Polly Grey Has a Hot Date with Proisir
Kiwi mare Polly Grey is returning home, but this time it is for good.
Flying Artie's My Wish Leads An Aus Trifecta in HK Classic Mile
Mark Newnham continued his excellent season and My Wish continued his remarkable rise when the pint-sized Flying Artie four year-old won the Hong Kong Classic Mile on Friday in and Australian bred trifecta.
Auckland Cup Plan for Cambridge Stud Mare
In-form mare About Time is giving every indication she can master the ultimate distance of her autumn target.
It's a G1 catalogue for the Feb (Early) Online Sale
G1 performers, siblings to G1 winners, dams of G1 winners and shares in several G1 winners and Stakes horses highlight another strong catalogue for the Inglis Digital February (Early) Online Sale.