Pensee Du Jour (Ire)

With so many roads now leading to Del Mar, traffic may feel pretty slow just now. But we should make a virtue of that, in that our preoccupation with the elite program tends to deny due attention to those achieving their success a tier or so below the very top. After all, such people have typically required no less skill, endeavor and patience, often denied the very highest rewards only through lacking similar parity in resources. Take the breeder of GIII Ontario Derby winner Dresden Row (Lord Nelson), whose emergence...

Mqse De Sevigne (Ire) will aim to add to her Group 1 tally at Deauville before ending her career with a crack at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, trainer Andre Fabre revealed on Monday. The daughter of Siyouni (Fr) won a pair of top-level races at Deauville as a four-year-old, registering back-to-back victories in the Prix Rothschild and Prix Jean Romanet, before filling the runner-up spot behind Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Sun Chariot S. at Newmarket on her final start of the campaign. This year Mqse...

Relishing front-running tactics, the Wertheimers' TDN Rising Star Pensee Du Jour (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) returned to winning ways in Monday's G2 Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud. Never in any serious danger once Maxime Guyon had committed, the Andre Fabre-trained 7-5 favourite who was runner-up in ParisLongchamp's G3 Prix Allez France last month gave generously to score by 1 1/2 lengths from Quantanamera (Ger) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). It was at this track that Prix Rose de Mai started to look like a genuine Classic prospect last Spring when winning the Listed...

Cologne is the focal point of the next European Classic action on Monday, with the G2 Coolmore St Mark's Basilica German 2000 Guineas hosting the unbeaten Maigret (Ger) (Counterattack {Aus}) and a pair of British raiders in Devil's Point (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) and Ten Bob Tony (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}). While the former looked the best of his generation at around this trip when winning Krefeld's 8 1/2-furlong G3 Dr Busch-Memorial last month, the foreign contingent have been mixing it in the big time with Ten Bob Tony...

There were the usual winners and losers in equal measure during Thursday's draw for Chantilly's G1 Prix de Diane Longines, with David Howden's Listed Pretty Polly S. winner Running Lion (GB) (Roaring Lion) receiving stall 12 of 15 in Sunday's 10 1/2-furlong Classic. Despite that unfavourable post position and her antics in the starting gate ahead of the Epsom Oaks, the John and Thady Gosden trainee is deemed the likely favourite ahead of Yeguada Centurion SL's G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) who drew...

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. Friday's Insights features Classic hopeful Infinite Cosmos. 16.45 Newmarket, Mdn, £15,000, 3yo, f, 10fT INFINITE COSMOS (IRE) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is one of the most exciting Oaks hopefuls in the Sir Michael Stoute stable, with the Rothschild colour-bearer having shown abundant promise in her debut second to Sea...

Saturday's G3 Prix Penelope at Saint-Cloud looked a deep race for its type so early in the season, but Ballymore Thoroughbred Ltd's TDN Rising Star Pensee Du Jour (Ire) (Camelot {GB}--Painter's Pride {Fr}, by Dansili {GB}) tackled the third quick examination of her fledgling career with a degree of comfort to provide Andre Fabre with a 10th renewal of the 10 1/2-furlong Diane trial. In front from the outset but kept company by Ballydoyle's Library (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the 2-5 favourite began to turn the screw from the top of...

The Prix de Diane is the main aim for Thursday's impressive Saint-Cloud winner Pensee Du Jour (Ire), according to Anthony Stroud, who manages the interests of the Camelot (GB) filly's owners, Ballymore Thoroughbreds.  Carrying the silks of owner-breeder Diane Wildenstein, Pensee Du Jour made all of the running to win the Rose De Mai S. by seven lengths, with Stroud explaining the significance of the victory shortly afterwards.  He said of the 'TDN Rising Star', "Funnily enough, they [the Wildenstein family] started out in racing back in 1923 so this...

Ballymore Thoroughbred Racing's undefeated 3-year-old filly Pensee Du Jour (Ire) (Camelot {GB}--Painter's Pride {Fr}, by Dansili {GB}) delivered a spectacular winning debut last month, attaining 'TDN Rising Star' status with a four-length tally atop Chantilly's all-weather surface, and made a smooth transition into black-type company with an impressive pillar-to-post victory on the turf in Thursday's Listed Prix Rose de Mai at Saint-Cloud. The 1-2 favourite broke smartly and held sway throughout the 10-furlong contest. Unflustered and dominating into the straight, she was allowed an inch of rein soon after passing...

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. Thursday's Observations features a 'TDN Rising Star'. 15.00 Saint-Cloud, Listed, €55,000, 3yo, f, 10fT Ballymore Thoroughbred Racing's 3-year-old filly PENSEE DU JOUR (IRE) (Camelot {GB}) made a spectacular winning debut at Chantilly last month, attaining 'TDN Rising Star' status with a geared-down four-length tally over 9 1/2 furlongs, and...

Thursday's card at Chantilly witnessed Europe's first TDN Rising Star of 2023 as Ballymore Thoroughbred Ltd's Pensee Du Jour (Ire) (Camelot {GB}--Painter's Pride {Fr}, by Dansili {GB}) powered to an impressive success in the 9 1/2-furlong Prix du Chateau de la Reine Blanche for unraced 3-year-old fillies. Away smartly under Alexis Pouchin, the 1-2 favourite who is a half-sister to the G3 Mahab Al Shimaal winner and G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen third Canvassed (Ire) (Shamardal) and who hails from the Wildenstein dynasty of the champion Peintre Celebre was in front...