By Tom Frary
Sent off the 6-4 favourite for Sunday's Listed Betfred Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket, Shadwell's Falakeyah showed why with a comprehensive success in this Oaks pointer. Labelled a TDN Rising Star after her Wolverhampton debut win in November, the Owen Burrows-trained daughter of New Bay was allowed to bowl along in front from the outset by Jim Crowley. Killing any sign of a contest by the time she entered the dip, the relative of Baaeed and Hukum stayed on well enough to hold the Gosdens' daughter of Night Of Thunder, Life Is Beautiful, at bay and win by 3 1/4 lengths.
Burrows was not giving the instant green light to an Oaks tilt in the winner's enclosure. “We will have a chat with Team Shadwell, but Jim just said there that a mile and a half might be far enough for her,” he said. “Put it this way, I wouldn't be telling everybody to back her for the Oaks yet. Possibly the Prix de Diane could be for her, as that was mentioned.”
“You have got to be very impressed with her,” he added. “She is a big filly with a big stride and we didn't want to be pulling her out of that. She got a little bit lonely in front, and probably got a bit tired, which she is more than entitled to, but it was good. She just changed her legs in the dip a couple of times, but they are entitled to do that.”
“She is very exciting. I trained the half-sister, who always promised to be a nice filly. She was a mid-80 filly and she was slightly unlucky in the Sandringham. She has a bit more scope than that filly and her mind is a bit better.”
Strong in the market and the same in the race 💪
Falakeyah shows her Pretty Polly Stakes rivals a clean pair of heels under a bold ride from @JimCrowley1978.
Is she an Oaks filly in the making? 🟦⬜️@ShadwellFarm | @ojburrows74 | @Betfred pic.twitter.com/cf57fW0iUv
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 4, 2025
Falakeyah's half-sibling to which Burrows is referring is Dubawi's Rowayeh, who was fourth in the Royal meeting's Kensington Palace Stakes at a mile. The unraced dam Alaflaak by War Front is out of Singspiel's GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf and GI Flower Bowl Invitational heroine Lahudood, responsible for Kitten's Joy's G2 Auckland Cup winner Mahrajaan and Kingmambo's Aghareed. Just a listed winner for the operation, she has excelled above all expectations in her second career by providing one of the Stud's elite runners in Sea The Stars' brilliant Baeed as well as his G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and G1 Coronation Cup-winning full-brother Hukum.
Lahudood's family is pure Shadwell gold. It features, in no particular order, Giant's Causeway's G1 1,000 Guineas and G1 Coronation Stakes heroine Ghanaati, the ground-breaking Derby-winning champion Nashwan and his stellar half-brother Nayef, as well as the high-class Unfuwain. Alaflaak's 2-year-old colt is by Dubawi, while her colt foal is by Mostahdaf.
Sunday, Newmarket, Britain
BETFRED PRETTY POLLY STAKES-Listed, £60,000, Newmarket, 5-4, 3yo, f, 10fT, 2:03.34, g/f.
1–FALAKEYAH (GB), 128, f, 3, by New Bay (GB)
1st Dam: Alaflaak, by War Front
2nd Dam: Lahudood (GB), by Singspiel (Ire)
3rd Dam: Rahayeb (GB), by Arazi
TDN Rising Star. 1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O/B-Shadwell Estate Company Ltd (GB); T-Owen Burrows; J-Jim Crowley. £34,026. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $49,473.
2–Life Is Beautiful (GB), 128, f, 3, Night Of Thunder (Ire)–Beautiful Morning (GB), by Galileo (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B-Lady Bamford (GB); T-John & Thady Gosden. £12,900.
3–Qilin Queen (Ire), 128, f, 3, Pinatubo (Ire)–Seagull (Ire), by Sea The Stars (Ire). (280,000gns Ylg '23 TATOCT). O-TBT Racing; B-Mrs T Mahon (IRE); T-Ed Walker. £6,456.
Margins: 3 1/4, NK, 1. Odds: 1.50, 9.00, 5.50.
Also Ran: Sand Gazelle (GB), Trad Jazz (GB), Janey Mackers (Ire), Anna Swan (GB). Scratched: Likealot (GB).
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