Prix de Diane

The G1 Prix de Diane winner Sparkling Plenty (Fr) has been added to the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale as a wildcard entry. The daughter of Kingman (GB) will sell on the Saturday of the auction as lot 200 through Haras de Bouquetot to dissolve the partnership between Al Shaqab Racing and Sparkling Plenty's breeder Jean-Pierre Dubois. The filly was first offered as a yearling at Arqana in August 2022 and was unsold at €600,000. In June, the day after her Classic victory in the colours of Dubois, she was offered...

A day after winning the G1 Prix de Diane, Sparkling Plenty (Fr) (Kingman {GB}) was bought back by her owner-breeder Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois at £8.1 million when offered for auction at the Goffs London Sale. A private sale has now been agreed for Sparkling Plenty to Al Shaqab Racing for £5 million. Story.  Bidding through Goffs representative Amanda Zetterholm, Dubois retained the full-sister to G3 Jersey S. winner Noble Truth (Fr) having previously bought her back as a yearling at Arqana for €600,000. Sparkling Plenty, trained by Patrice Cottier, is now...

Sunday at Longchamp was a day for firsts. A Classic victory for Rouhiya (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches was an important milestone in the partnership between trainer Francis Graffard and the Aga Khan's powerful racing and breeding operation. Then came a first Classic in his adopted home country for 34-year-old Mario Barrati when Metropolitan (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) landed the Poulains, a year after the Italian trainer had won the German 2,000 Guineas with Angers (Fr) (Seabhac). But perhaps most notable of all, especially as...

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...

Promising filly La Parisienne (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) will be taking some new owners along for the ride during her 3-year-old campaign, with the Kentucky-based Peter Bradley having purchased 70% of the Yann and Carlos Lerner-trained filly on behalf of a racing partnership. The news was first reported by Jour De Galop. The remainder of the filly, who won her lone start at Deauville on Dec. 10 by five lengths, is owned by Marc Leonetti, JML Racing and Meridian International. "La Parisienne broke her maiden exceptionally well, so we think she...

Chantilly on Sunday is the place to be, with the customary high fashion and regalia accompanying a fascinating card featuring the G1 Prix de Diane Longines. As usual, Andre Fabre is the first port of call and it seems at present that his unbeaten Burgarita (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) could be the one to start favourite in a wide-open edition, having impressed with two performances at ParisLongchamp. In the first, Ecurie Ama Zingteam's relative of the 2001 Diane heroine Aquarelliste (Fr) (Danehill) beat the re-opposing Khalidiya (Fr) (Oasis Dream...

'TDN Rising Star' Sibila Spain (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) will be supplemented to the June 20 G1 Prix de Diane and will be the first Classic starter for trainer Christopher Head. Head is the son of hugely successful jockey and trainer Freddy Head, while other members of the historic racing family include Freddy's sister Criquette and father Alec. Sibila Spain was bred by Coolmore and races for Yeguada Centurion. She suffered her first career defeat when fourth, beaten a length, in the G1 Prix Saint-Alary on May 24, and looks to...

G1 Prix de Diane winner Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) could surface next in the G1 Nassau S. at Glorious Goodwood on July 30, said trainer Donnacha O'Brien. "Fancy Blue has come out of her race well," said O'Brien of his first Classic winner. "We're still not a hundred per cent sure where she will go next, but the Nassau at Goodwood is a strong possibility at the minute." The Coolmore partners' Fancy Blue was winning for the third time from four starts in the Prix de Diane, her...

By 3.35pm on Sunday, the Derby and Oaks will already be old news and the dust will be settling after Chantilly's early-afternoon prestige races. As if all the Classics that played out over the longest weekend were mere support acts, Juddmonte's sovereign Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) is back to take up most of the headline inches in a renewal of Sandown's G1 Coral-Eclipse which rates as one of the finest in its recent history. No horse in training has the same draw as the 6-year-old and although the Classic generation...

Aidan O'Brien is likely to split his 1000 Guineas winners Peaceful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), with the former, the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner, pencilled in for Sunday's G1 Prix de Diane and the latter, the G1 1000 Guineas winner, likely for the G1 Investec Oaks on July 4. "I was talking to the lads [John Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor] this morning and it looks like Love, Passion (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Ennistymon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will go to Epsom," said O'Brien. "Peaceful might...

Champion and win machine Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) looms large as she looks to defend her title in an expected seven-horse renewal of Saturday's GI Beverly D. S., the first of three Grade Is at Arlington. A winner of three of four to start her career in France, the bay earned a trip to America with a second at 12-1 in the G1 Prix de Diane Longines two summers ago. Since then, she's a neck and a head from being undefeated in seven U.S. starts, all except one coming at...

Goffs on Thursday released the catalogue for its flagship Orby yearling sale, with 472 yearlings set to be offered on Oct. 1 and 2. This year, Orby celebrated a second consecutive Oaks winner when Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) was victorious in the G1 Prix de Diane. Bred by Kilcarn Stud, Channel was an €18,000 private purchase at Orby in 2017 by Meridian International. The year prior, G1 Investec Oaks winner Forever Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) had been bought by MV Magnier for €900,000. One of the highlights of this year's...