Benefiting from the below-par effort of Thundering On (Frankel), Estrange (Night Of Thunder) stepped up to achieve Group 1 glory in Saturday's Pretty Polly Stakes at The Curragh.With the Oaks heroine unable to come close to her Epsom standard, it was left to Cheveley Park Stud's five-year-old to take control of the 10-furlong feature and bring it home for David O'Meara and Danny Tudhope.Well-supported into 13-8 second favouritism, the grey who had finished runner-up in the Yorkshire Oaks and British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes last term seized the advantage inside the final two furlongs and drew away to score by 1 1/2 lengths from One Look (Gleneagles). There was another half a length back to Red Letter (Frankel) in third, with the 11-10 favourite Thundering On beaten a total of 2 1/2 lengths in fourth.“You can't fault her efforts–she's a dream to ride and coming back in trip was a plus,” Tudhope said. “She felt good, relaxed nice and put the race to bed quickly. She's got a lot of speed and had nearly overdone it on her last two runs over a mile and a half, so the drop in trip was no worry. She was meant to run in the Arc last year, so fingers crossed she can get there this year.”Coming of age when impressing in the Lester Piggott at Haydock last May, Estrange had added the Lancashire Oaks before coming up against Minnie Hauk at York and Kalpana at Ascot but came into this with confidence high having registered back-to-back wins in the Lester Piggott rescheduled to Carlisle. With the Oaks winner almost certainly running below-par and the French challenge Aventure unable to make the journey, this wouldn't have taken as much winning as in recent times but there was no mistaking the grey's superiority over the Irish fillies.David O'Meara, who was winning at this level for the first time in five years, said, “She is a wonderful filly. She was maybe caught a little bit wide throughout, but it looked like it was pretty smooth sailing for Danny. There is a big weight-for-age allowance for the three-year-olds, so I didn't know if that would tell in the last half-a-furlong, up the hill.”“She travelled nicely to the two-furlong pole and dropping back in trip has definitely not been a negative, it could have been the making of her,” he added. “Maybe we have been running her over the wrong trip, but I'm delighted with today and delighted for Cheveley Park who have been sending me horses now for over a decade and it's brilliant for them.”“We'd love to go for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and she has that entry. It was important that she got the Group 1 win under her belt and she did so in good style today. We'll enjoy this and figure out where we go next.”A GROUP 1 BREAKTHROUGHwins at the top level for the first time with success in the @paddypower Pretty Polly Stakes for @omeararacing and @CPStudOfficial pic.twitter.com/FOXCima0Qw— Racing TV (@RacingTV) June 27, 2026Pedigree NotesEstrange's unraced dam Alienate (Oasis Dream), who is a half-sister to Frankel's St Leger hero Logician, is also responsible for that supersire's Park Hill Stakes third Lmay and the Listed-placed Basalt by Pinatubo. Alienate is also kin to four other Stakes performers including the triple Graded-Stakes scorer and E. P. Taylor Stakes runner-up Suffused (Champs Elysees) who is the dam of the Prix de Royaumont and Prix Allez France winner Sunly by Estrange's sire Night Of Thunder.Alienate's full-sister Sleep Walk is responsible for Caravaggio's dual Diana Stakes heroine Whitebeam and, while this Juddmonte family also features the sires Cityscape and Bated Breath and Equiano's Group 1 sprinter Equilateral. Her yearling filly is by Blue Point.Saturday, The Curragh, IrelandPADDY POWER PRETTY POLLY STAKES-G1, €400,000, Curragh, 6-27, 3yo/up, f/m, 10fT, 2:02.89, g/f.1–ESTRANGE (IRE), 138, m, 5, by Night Of Thunder (Ire)1st Dam: Alienate (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB)2nd Dam: Scuffle (GB), by Daylami (Ire)3rd Dam: Tantina, by Distant View1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (425,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT). O-Cheveley Park Stud; B-A Stroud, T Stewart & J Hanly; T-David O'Meara; J-Danny Tudhope. €240,000. Lifetime Record: MGSW & MG1SP-Eng, 9-6-2-0, $936,544. *1/2 to Basalt (Ire) (Pinatubo {Ire}), SP-Eng, SP-Qa. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.2–One Look (Ire), 138, m, 5, Gleneagles (Ire)–Holy Salt (GB), by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire). (€40,000 RNA Wlg '21 GOFNO1; €65,000 Ylg '22 GOFOR). O-Wathnan Racing; B-Tullpark Ltd; T-Paddy Twomey. €80,000.3–Red Letter (GB), 138, f, 4, Frankel (GB)–Red Impression (GB), by Dark Angel (Ire).TDN Rising Star. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Juddmonte; T-Ger Lyons. €40,000.Margins: 1HF, HF, HF. Odds: 1.63, 18.00, 8.50.Also Ran: Thundering On (GB), Wemightakedlongway (Ire), Beautify (Ire), Qilin Queen (Ire), Carolina Jetstream (GB). Scratched: Nyra (Ger), Venetian Lace (Ire).The post Estrange Takes The Pretty Polly As Thundering On Flops appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.