'I think he'll be perfect for her' - Pretty Pollyanna set for superstar date

Despite the decision to scale back their racing and breeding interests last year, Bill and Tim Gredley's remaining broodmare band will be given every opportunity to thrive in the coming years, with Prix Morny heroine Pretty Pollyanna heading the team.

Against the backdrop of Brexit and coronavirus complications, the Gredleys' broodmare band is set to visit British-based stallions this term, something Tim Gredley is keen to do via the Great British Bonus scheme.

"I've been a great advocate of the scheme and, especially with all these issues with Brexit, it's a real opportunity to try to support British stallions," he said. "We won the bonus a couple of times last year and it really is a good incentive for British breeders."

Pretty Pollyanna, a daughter of Oasis Dream, proved a top-class juvenile, landing the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes by seven lengths before following up in the Deauville Group 1 and then finishing third in the Fillies' Mile.

Having been retired in 2019 after finishing second to Hermosa in the Irish 1,000 Guineas, the five-year-old was subsequently sent to Galileo for her first covering last year. She did not conceive but is due for another exciting mating as she visits Frankel this term.

On the decision to send Pretty Pollyanna to the ten-time Group 1 winner, Gredley, a former showjumper who represented Britain at the 2006 World Equestrian Games, said: "I think he'll be perfect for her. I went down to see him and I think she'll really suit him physically.

Frankel: set to welcome Pretty Pollyanna among his harem of maresCredit: Darren Tindale

"She's a compact filly and we all just decided Frankel without hesitation. That was that made up pretty quickly!"

Pretty Pollyanna's dam Unex Mona Lisa has a Frankel yearling, and the daughter of Shamardal is one of five mares by the late sire heading to Oasis Dream.

Gredley said: "She's got a lovely Frankel yearling on the ground, so we're very happy with that, and we've decided to go back to Oasis Dream to get a full-brother or sister to Pretty Pollyanna.

"Mona Lisa is a Shamardal and my father's had a bit of an experiment over the last couple of years when he went shopping to the broodmare sales for a few Shamardal mares, both raced and unraced. He bought around five and they'll all go to Oasis Dream."

The team has enjoyed considerable success with Sea The Moon - in part due to Allmankind's Grade 1 triumphs over hurdles and fences - and Miss Brown To You, the dam of the Gredleys' Gold Cup hero Big Orange, is due to be covered by the Lanwades sire.

"Lanwades have been very generous to us so Miss Brown To You is booked in to Sea The Moon, as is Wemyss Bay, the dam of Allmankind," said Gredley. "We're not trying to breed jumpers but we know we'll get an exciting animal anyway."

Another high-profile mare set for a notable covering is Whazzat, the dam of the team's Mill Reef winner and Prix Maurice de Gheest runner-up James Garfield, who now stands at Rathbarry Stud. The 19-year-old, who has also produced the stakes-placed Dansili mare The Shrew, has been booked in to new Darley sire Pinatubo.

Tim Gredley: 'I think Kameko is going to be a nice stallion, and Guineas winners never really let you down in my opinion'Credit: Laura Green

Gredley, who said that James Garfield's full-sister will be going into training with George Scott this year, added: "Whazzat is a Chesham winner and although I'm a big advocate of middle-distance racing - I find that floats my boat the most - I'm aware we have to keep producing some speed with these families as we're not intending on going to the sales and buying a load in the future.

"With fillies like Whazzat, who have natural speed and produce natural speed, it makes sense to send them to the best around. Pinatubo is a new stallion and an exciting one, one my father was really impressed by, so we thought that would be a good mating for her."

Among Stetchworth and Middle Park Studs' other mares are Roulette, a Poet's Voice half-sister to Pretty Pollyanna, who will also be covered by Sea The Moon, and Fleur De Lis, a daughter of Nayef and dam of Coventry fourth Vange who is booked to Derby winner Masar, standing for Darley this year at £14,000.

"Roulette was a nice maiden winner and is a lovely filly," said Gredley. "She'll be covered by Sea The Moon and she has a lovely Expert Eye foal on the ground.

"Fleur De Lis will go to Masar, who I really like and think is great value. He won at two over six furlongs very impressively and he also won a Derby. We're sending him four or five mares."

Masar: the 2018 Derby winner will receive plenty of support from the Gredleys' operationCredit: Mark Cranham

The unraced Galileo mare Bark has produced the progressive Kingman colt Father Of Jazz and has been pencilled in for a covering by another Dalham Hall sire in Too Darn Hot.

Gredley said: "We've also got a nice broodmare called Bark and we've got a four-year-old out of her who's won the last couple of times in Father Of Jazz. She's got a nice No Nay Never going to Roger Varian this year and will go to Too Darn Hot."

Other stallions set for support from the Gredleys' operation include Ulysses and new sires Kameko and Without Parole.

"I think Kameko is going to be a nice stallion and Guineas winners never really let you down in my opinion," said Gredley. "We're going to use him with a couple of our homebreds, while we'll support Ulysses again."

More mating plans

First-time mother Laurens set for a change of pace in her 2021 covering

'She's a lovely mare' - Meon Valley Stud reveal matings for top-class broodmares

'She looks as exciting a mare as we've had' - Whitsbury Manor Stud mating plans

Derby dreams for Andrew Black as Chasemore Farm reveals mating plans

Juddmonte unveils exciting mating plans for blue-blooded broodmare band