By Tom Frary
Joseph O'Brien revealed on Friday morning that John Oxley's 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}) will miss Sunday's G1 Qipco 1000 Guineas due to an unsatisfactory scope. The G1 Fillies' Mile winner's absence is a serious blow to the mile Classic, for which 12 fillies were confirmed headed by fellow 'TDN Rising Star' Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). “It's obviously disappointing and very frustrating for everybody involved, as we were really looking forward to seeing how she would get on in the Guineas,” O'Brien told Racing Post. “However, it's going to be a long season and there are plenty of big races to come later in the year. We were conscious that we had to do the right thing by the filly, but we're still very excited about what she might achieve going forward.”
Santa Barbara, whose sole sighting on a racecourse came when winning a mile median sires series maiden at The Curragh in September, is the mount of Ryan Moore while Frankie Dettori is booked for the fellow Ballydoyle representative Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) who was last seen finishing runner-up in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Santa Barbara has been drawn in stall one on the outside, with her stablemate in two and Jeff Smith's G1 Cheveley Park S. and G3 Fred Darling S. winner Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) on the other side in 11. Cheveley Park Stud's Apr. 14 G3 Nell Gwyn S. winner Sacred (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) will exit from stall nine, alongside the filly she beat in that prep, Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) in 10.
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