'She could do anything' - 'incredible' Whirl co-favourite for Arc after denying Kalpana in pulsating Pretty Polly duel

Whirl is the new co-favourite for the Arc after a thrilling victory in the Group 1 Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes.

She beat the year older odds-on favourite Kalpana by a length and a quarter and promptly had her Arc odds halved to 10-1 and the same price for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (from 33).

"She's an incredible filly and has just progressed," said a suitably impressed Aidan O'Brien, who combined with jockey Ryan Moore for a 150th top-level victory together. 

"She loves getting into a fight. Wayne [Lordan] rides her in her work and rode her at Epsom [in the Oaks] and we saw she stays a mile and a half. She's absolutely concrete really. 

"We knew she wouldn't mind a mile and a quarter as she was very impressive at York [Musidora] and Ryan got the fractions absolutely spot on. It's a difficult thing when you're running a mile-and-a-half filly back at a mile and a quarter and you're trying to spread the stamina out over the trip without stretching the elastic too long.

Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore combined to win their 150th Group/Grade 1 togetherCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"Ryan and Colin Keane [Kalpana's jockey] knew they were each other's dangers, so they weren't going to give an inch. To battle all the way up the straight at the Curragh takes some courage and they kept going together."

Options remain fluid for the Wootton Bassett filly and O'Brien added: "She could come back here for the Oaks or go to the Nassau at Glorious Goodwood.

"She's an unusual filly. She could do anything. She wasn't even blowing in the parade ring after, so she's obviously a high-class filly."

Whirl's Epsom Oaks conqueror Minnie Hauk goes for the Irish Oaks, added O'Brien.

The story of the race was one of Whirl's braveness as she plunged into abyssal depths to wrestle back the initiative and repel the smooth-travelling Kalpana.

There had been conclusive evidence of her considerable resolution with her front-running display at Epsom, where she was embroiled in a protracted battle before giving way in the dying strides to stablemate Minnie Hauk.

However, this time her main rival couldn't find comparable reserves to dip into, particularly when the 13-8 winner's stamina began to blast her home late on.

A Group 1 winner over a mile and a half, Kalpana's stamina is undoubtedly robust over this trip too, so when Keane glided up alongside an animated Moore as they straightened up, few would have predicted the brawl that unfolded moments later.

After breezing into contention, Keane asked his mount to settle matters at the two-furlong pole, while Moore was flat out on the inside. The response from Kalpana wasn't electric but she seemed to be building a healthy head of steam and edged a nostril ahead between the final two furlongs, but her intrepid rival was retaining an interest on the rail.

The more combative the duel got, the more Whirl began to ignite and she jostled the advantage back at the furlong marker before hurtling to the line, leaving Kalpana a length and a quarter behind and French raider Survie a further length and three-quarters back in third.

Having been as big as 13-8 in the morning, the Andrew Balding-trained runner-up was heavily punted into 5-6 favourite after her promising return at the track last month when third to Los Angeles and Anmaat, but conceding 12lb to the hugely progressive winner proved beyond her.

Ryan Moore with MV Magnier and Whirl's groom Killian Murphy after the Pretty PollyCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

It is a huge feather in Whirl's cap that she was able to put such a talented older filly to the sword and it illustrates her unrelenting progress this season, having finished sixth in Group 3 company on her seasonal return before her demolition job in the Musidora and her last two Group 1 runs.

O'Brien was saddling his first winner of the race since Magical in 2020. Whirl is in exalted company with the likes of Minding, Misty For Me and Peeping Fawn and she is clearly going places fast.

It took O'Brien and Moore 13 years to seal a century of top-level victories together, starting with Beethoven in the 2009 Dewhurst to the mercurial Blackbeard in the Prix Morny in 2022. Given Whirl's relentless progression, she has plenty of scope for further contributions to the seismic tally being amassed.

Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Longchamp, October 5)

Sky Bet: 10 Lambourn, Sosie, Whirl, 12 Ombudsman, 14 Estrange, Kalpana, 16 Aventure, Jan Brueghel, Minnie Hauk, 20 bar 

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