Christopher Head

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...

Wertheimer and Frere will add two new trainers to its team this year in the form of Yann Barberot in Deauville and Christopher Head in Chantilly, their manager Pierre-Yves Bureau told the Jour de Galop on Thursday. The two have enjoyed success on French and European racecourses this past season. Their addition to the training ranks comes after the brothers' addition of the Wildenstein Family's Dayton Investments bloodstock portfolio this past August. Bureau also told the JDG that they would be retaining their existing trainers; Andre Fabre, who currently has...

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...

Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) has exited the G1 Prix du Moulin in good order and will aim for the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on QIPCO British Champions Day, according to trainer Christopher Head. Successful in a listed race in March, the Yeguada Centurion homebred added the G3 Prix la Force and G3 Prix de Guiche in successive months. He has finished second in his last three races, all at Group 1 level--the Prix du Jockey Club, the Prix Jacques le Marois, and the Prix du Moulin,...

Two group winners have been added to the Arc Sale--set to go on Saturday, Sept. 30 at Saint-Cloud--in Jack Darcy (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) and Freville (Fr) (Gleneagles {Ire}). Consigned by Barton Sales as lot 15, Jack Darcy, the G3 Glorious S. runner-up, is out of a half-sister to Group 1 winners Elmaamul (Diesis {GB}) and Reams of Verse (Nureyev). This is the close family of champion, six-time Group 1 heroine Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Freville, lot 25, conditioned by Christopher Head, found success in the G3 Prix d'Aumale at...

Gerard Augustin-Normand's Freville (Fr) (Gleneagles {Ire}--Freauville {Fr}, by Le Havre {Ire}) and Joseph O'Brien trainee Kalispera (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) were the most battle-hardened of seven contenders lining up for Thursday's G3 Prix d'Aumale at ParisLongchamp and the one-mile contest boiled down to a head-to-head between the pair, with the former swooping late for a career best. Last month's Listed Criterium du Fonds Europeen de l'Elevage fourth raced sixth of the seven runners through the early stages, but slipped back to become the whipper-in approaching halfway. Shaken up in early...

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...

Hot on the hooves of 'TDN Rising Star' City Of Troy notching an impressive tally in Newmarket's G2 Superlative S., Christopher Head trainee and 'TDN Rising Star' Ramatuelle embellished her sire Justify's banner weekend with a spectacular performance in Sunday's G2 Prix Robert Papin at Chantilly. The February-foaled €100,000 Arqana August graduate went postward as a heavily favoured 2-5 chance, returning off a wide-margin triumph over the six-furlong course and distance in last month's G3 Prix du Bois, and was swiftly into stride to occupy a prominent role here. Last...

Blue Rose Cen (Ire), one of the most exciting horses in France, is set to make her British bow in the Qatar Nassau S. at Goodwood on August 3. Christopher Head's star completed a rare treble at Chantilly when strolling to victory in the Prix de Diane earlier this month, adding to victories in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and last year's Marcel Boussac-a feat previously achieved by the likes of Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar), Divine Proportions (Kingmambo) and Allez France (Sea Bird {Fr}). Blue Rose Cen, who has won seven...

As Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}--Queen Blossom {Ire}, by Jeremy) dominated the final 300 metres of Sunday's G1 Prix de Diane Longines, there was time for collective appreciation of the arrival of a new starlet for France. In pounding her peers in Chantilly's 10 1/2-furlong Classic by upwards of four lengths, the early gift from the racing gods to Leopoldo Fernández Pujals's fledgling breeding operation entered revered territory as only the fourth to add this prize to the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. Doing...

Breaking the juvenile track record at Chantilly on Sunday, Christopher Head trainee Ramatuelle (Justify--Raven's Lady {GB}, by Raven's Pass) justified 6-4 favouritism in the G3 Prix du Bois Longines by dominating her nine rivals with a spectacular display in the six-furlong contest. The eventual winner was positioned in a handy second as market rival Zorken (Fr) (Goken {Fr}) set the tone up front. Inching into second at halfway, she quickened to the fore entering the final furlong and powered clear in highly impressive fashion to easily outclass her rivals by...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Sunday's Insights features the return of TDN Rising Stars Ramatuelle (Justify) and Beauvatier (Fr) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in a Saint-Cloud conditions event. 13.58 Saint-Cloud, Cond, €34,000, 2yo, 6fT Christopher Head trainee RAMATUELLE (Justify) created a deep impression first time out when powering home by 4 1/2 lengths over...