Stay Alert ready for Pretty Polly redemption at The Curragh

Hughie Morrison is keen to confine the events of last year's Cairn Community Games Pretty Polly Stakes to the history books as Stay Alert prepares for a second tilt at the Curragh Group One on Saturday.

The Fastnet Rock filly was a 25-1 shot 12 months ago off the back of finishing fifth in York's Middleton Stakes, but outran her odds and then some to finish second.

Stay Alert was beaten two lengths by George Boughey's Via Sistina, but that told only half the story, with the winner hanging right and impeding the runner-up and a number of other horses to such an extent that connections felt it was worth lodging an appeal, which was ultimately unsuccessful.

Morrison's charge failed to trouble the judge in three further outings in 2023, but having kicked off the new campaign with an impressive victory in Newmarket's Dahlia Stakes, beating subsequent Royal Ascot heroine Running Lion, she heads back across the Irish Sea as a major player.

When asked whether he felt he had a score to settle in the Pretty Polly, Morrison said: "I don't think one ever wants to do that in sport or think that way. Time heals and we move on.

"She's done herself well and has done very well since she ran. My concern always is whether I've done enough with her, but travel can refine them down a bit and we're just hopeful that she'll run her race, perform to the levels she did at Newmarket and we'll see how good she is."

Stay Alert is part of a formidable British challenge which also includes Ralph Beckett's runaway Middleton Stakes winner Bluestocking and John and Thady Gosden's dual Group One winner Emily Upjohn.

Morrison added: "I think both times she's gone over to Ireland, I feel I may have left a gallop short. It's been quite dry in the last two weeks,