Blue Rose Cen (Ire)

Yeguada Centurion homebred Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) has been retired from racing, Paris Turf reported on Friday morning. The 4-year-old daughter of multiple group winner Queen Blossom (Ire) (Jeremy) won a quartet of Group 1s, including the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix de Diane. Trained through her first 12 starts by Christopher Head, the bay won four of her six appearances at two en route to being named the top filly of her year in France. She landed the G3 Prix d'Aumale and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac...

Sunday sees Deauville's August Festival get underway and with it Baron Edouard De Rothschild's Mqse De Sevigne (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) as she bids for back-to-back renewals of the G1 Prix Rothschild. Also successful in the G1 Prix Jean Romanet and in this term's G1 Prix d'Ispahan at ParisLongchamp, the Andre Fabre-trained homebred is the logical choice here having had her most recent form boosted by Horizon Dore (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) at Royal Ascot. She looks a solid proposition re-opposed by Yeguada Centurion's increasingly disappointing Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}),...

Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) will be given the chance to gain compensation for his "nightmare" run in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes when he makes his next intended appearance in the G1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, a race in which he filled the runner-up spot behind Paddington (GB) in 2023. Trainer Jerome Reynier was optimistic of a prominent showing at Royal Ascot from his stable star, who was having his first start since winning the G1 Dubai Turf at Meydan in March. In the event, however, Facteur Cheval never...

Wednesday's Royal Ascot cards were finalised on Monday, with the feature G1 Prince of Wales's S. made up of 10 runners but not, as expected, White Birch (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}). The G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner's absence is one less obstacle for Ballydoyle's star colt of 2023, Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), with Cheveley Park Stud's Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Yeguada Centurion's Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) looking the chief threats to the Ballydoyle runner. Blue Rose Cen is joined by compatriots Horizon Dore (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}),...

Group 1 winner Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) and 12 other Yeguada Centurion horses have transferred to the stable of Maurizio Guarnieri as of Thursday evening, Jour de Galop reported. The baker's dozen were formerly listed in training with Christopher Head. Speaking to the French publication, Head said, "I was notified Thursday morning of the departure of the horses for Maurizio Guarnieri's stable, with transport planned for the evening. I savored every minute spent with the Yeguada Centurion horses. I [will] only have good memories of this valuable...

Multiple Group 1 winner Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), who won the G1 Prix de l'Opera and booked her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf as a result, will skip that engagement and is being freshened prior to being prepared for a 4-year-old campaign, Jour de Galop reported on Friday. The Yeguada Centurion homebred is trained by Christopher Head. In 2022, she won the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac, and then completed a rare triple when adding the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and G1 Prix...

Yeguada Centurion's Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}--Queen Blossom {Ire}, by Jeremy) had failed to fire in two starts after notching a Classic double in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and G1 Prix de Diane, but was pitch-perfect in Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines at ParisLongchamp to secure for a fourth elite-level triumph in game fashion. Last term's G1 Prix Marcel Boussac heroine was supported down to favouritism in the betting market and broke on the lead from the inside stall before accepting a tow in third in...

While the G1 Irish St Leger is officially the feature race on The Curragh's second part of the Irish Champions Festival, Sunday's fixture is really first and foremost about Ballydoyle's TDN Rising Star City Of Troy (Justify) who graces the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. Of all the stable's 2-year-old stars over the past 25 years, he already looks at home accompanying the same metaphoric space as the likes of Johannesburg, Fasliyev, Air Force Blue, Hawk Wing, Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) and Little Big Bear (Ire) which is an...

High-class filly Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) will resume in the G1 Prix Vermeille at ParisLongchamp on Sept. 10, trainer Christopher Head revealed on Thursday. Prior to her fourth in the G1 Nassau S. during the Qatar Goodwood Festival earlier this month, the Yeguada Centurion homebred had completed a rare Group 1 triple, with wins in the Prix Marcel Boussac at two, and the Classic double of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix de Diane this year. "She is very well, she had a good journey back from...

With the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a bevy of graded stakes--marked by Saturday's GI Whitney S.--plus, the annual Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale which begins Monday, Upstate New York once again makes its case as the Thoroughbred fulcrum. To get the weekend started early, we have a pair of Friday graded turf stakes scheduled which will crown winners. First, the $400,000 GIII Saratoga Oaks Invitational S. for 3-year-old fillies serves as the middle sparkler in NYRA's Fasig-Tipton Turf Tiara series. Since Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify) has elected to take on the...

Shadwell's Al Husn (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}--Hadaatha {Ire}, by Sea The Stars {Ire}) caused an upset when usurping Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the dying strides of Newcastle's G3 Hoppings S. when last seen and repeated the dose with a game performance for a career high in a stellar renewal of Thursday's G1 Qatar Nassau S. at Goodwood. This year's G2 Dahlia S. runner-up and Listed Rothesay S. victrix was let go at generous odds of 9-1 and broke smartly from the outside stall to find a smooth rhythm in a...

So far at Goodwood this week, the front end has been the place to be in the races that matter most and that is good news for connections of Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) as she prepares to battle her elders for the first time in Thursday's G1 Qatar Nassau S. They include the gilt-edged 4-year-old Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}), but Hollie Doyle no doubt has a far greater tactical task than Aurelien Lemaitre on the French raider who is even drawn in one to add more bolster to...