The brightest star on the 3-year-old racing season in Dubai is the Congrats filly Polar River, who toyed with her competition in Thursday’s 1,000 Guineas S., dusting an over-matched group by about 13 lengths in very easy fashion while upping her undefeated record to 3-for-3.
Congrats, who was a top-10 sire by winners in 2015, has started off 2016 in similar style. He currently ranks sixth on the progeny earnings General Sire list, and is second by winners with 26.
Named a TDN Rising Star after breaking her maiden by more than a dozen lengths in December, Polar River then captured the Guineas trial by five in mid-January. Thursday’s 1,600 meter contest, her first stakes start, was was another easy win for the brilliant filly, who sat patiently in third for the first six furlongs, then given a nudge from Pat Dobbs, rocketed away from the field on the way to the easiest of wins.
“The owners have been very good to me and I think to be good to the filly, if she keeps progressing, it would only be fair to take her over there (to the United States) and give her a chance to further her career,” trainer Doug Watson said of the possibility of her shipping to America once the Dubai Carnival concludes in late March. “She was very impressive,” he added. “(Dobbs) said she was a little green and he said he gave her a bit of a squeeze and she just picked it up. She has some turn of foot and is a really nice filly. The (G3 UAE) Oaks (Mar. 3) is the next step, and if she wins that I’m sure we’d take an invitation to the (G2 UAE) Derby (Mar. 26, against colts).”
Polar River is owned by Valentin Bukhtoyarov and Evgeny Kappushev and has now earned $215,423. The bay filly was bred in Kentucky by McCann, Kelder and Richards and is the first foal out of Bayou Tortuga, who is a half-sister to a trio of stakes winners.
