Pleascach

Irish 1000 Guineas and the Yorkshire Oaks. Bred and trained by Jim Bolger she showed promise in two starts as a two-year-old in 2015, finishing fourth in a Group Three race on her debut and then winning a maiden race. In the spring of 2016 she finished second on her first appearance, won the Blue Wind Stakes and then defeated Found in the Irish 1000 Guineas. In summer she was beaten by Curvy in the Ribblesdale Stakes and disappointed in the Pretty Polly Stakes before returning from a lengthy absence to win the Yorkshire Oaks. On her final appearance of the year she finished fourth in a top-class international field for the Irish Champion Stakes

16/1 and finished fourth of the eleven runners behind the Aidan O'Brien-trained I Am Beautiful. She reappeared in a maiden race over even furlongs at Leopardstown Racecourse four days later and recorded her first success, taking the lead inside the final furlong and winning by two and three quarter lengths from Simply A Star with Curvy in fourth.^[6]

Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial), Malabar (Prestige Stakes) and Jack Naylor (Silver Flash Stakes). Pleascach raced in third before taking the lead two furlongs out. She opened up a clear advantage and then held off a strong late challenge from Found to win by half a length.^[8] Bolger outlined bold plans for the filly, mentioning the Irish Derby and the Irish Oaks as targets and calling her "probably the best filly I've had at a mile and a half".^[9] In early June a majority share in the filly was sold to Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin organisation.^{[citation needed}

Royal Ascot Pleascach was moved up in distance and started favourite for the Group Two Ribblesdale Stakes. She overcame some trouble in running to take the lead in the straight but was overtaken in the final furlong and beaten a length into second by Curvy. The Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh ten days later saw the filly drop back to a mile and a quarter but never looked likely to win and finished fifth behind Diamondsandrubies, Found, Ribbons and Secret Gesture. After a break of seven weeks Pleascach returned in the Group One Yorkshire Oaks over one and a half miles at York Racecourse on 28 August. The Irish Oaks winner Covert Love started favourite ahead of Jack Naylor and the French challenger Sea Callisi (Prix de Malleret) with Pleascach next in the betting on 8/1 alongside Curvy and Lady of Dubai (third in The Oaks). The best fancied of the other five runners were Outstanding (third in the Grade I Belmont Oaks) and Crystal Zvezda (Fillies' Trial Stakes). Covert Love took the lead soon after the start and set the pace with Pleascach settled in second by Manning just ahead of Curvy and Crystal Zvezda. In the straight the fillies moved off the rail to race down the centre of the track. Pleacach appeared to be struggling in the last quarter mile as Covert Love maintained her advantage whilst Curvy stayed on and Sea Calisi and the outsider Miss Marjurie began to make rapid progress. In the last hundred yards Pleascach produced a strong late rally to catch Covert Love and win by a neck. Sea Calisi, Curvy and Miss Marjurie were close behind in third, fourth and fifth.^[10] After the race Manning said "She battled all the way to the line and she's done it very well. I thought she was back to her best when I rode her work last week. She goes on various types of ground and is a very talented filly". Bolger, who was winning the race for the third time, commented "Previously we tried to settle her a little bit and it meant breaking her stride and Kevin decided whatever happened he wasn't going to break her stride today. He gave her a beautiful ride. We knew she was at the top of her game coming here".^[11]