Tag Archive for: Blue Rose Cen

Blue Rose Cen blooms with Classic glory

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Blue Rose Cen further enhanced her tall reputation with a clear-cut success in the Emirates Poule d’Essai des Pouliches at ParisLongchamp.

Christopher Head’s filly had won each of her three previous starts over the course and distance, including a Group One success in last season’s Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc weekend.

Having looked as good as ever on her reappearance in last month’s Prix de la Grotte, Blue Rose Cen was a hot favourite to provide her trainer with a first Classic win and delivered in style.

Ridden by Aurelien Lemaitre, the daughter of Churchill sat in the slipstream of the pacesetting Sauterne for much of the way before being asked for her effort in the straight.

The response was not immediate, with Blue Rose Cen taking a while to find top gear, but once she did she propelled herself clear of her rivals and was well on top at the line.

Lindy came through to beat Sauterne to the runner-up spot, with Aidan O’Brien’s Never Ending Story and the Karl Burke-trained Swingalong both unable to get involved in the finish.

Head said: “I don’t think that the magnitude of this success has sunk in yet. It’s really incredible.

“Blue Rose Cen is a filly I adore. I’ve been training her since she came to me, and she’s got tougher with time.”

Coral make Blue Rose Cen their 2-1 market leader to complete a Classic double in the French Oaks, the Prix de Diane, while Paddy Power have her as a 3-1 co-favourite alongside Andre Fabre’s Pensee Du Jour and John and Thady Gosden’s recent Newmarket victor Running Lion.

“The goal now is to go for the Prix de Diane Longines. Her pedigree suggests she will be able to go longer.

“We could have contemplated going for the Group One Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, but it’s better to stick with the French programme.”

Lindy’s trainer Christophe Ferland is eager for a rematch in the 10-furlong Prix de Diane.

He said: “Only victory provides for the ultimate experience. Yet in the cold light of day, this second place feels just as good.

“Lindy is great. She finished second in the Prix de la Grotte, and today she did likewise in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches.

“She is a genuine contender for the Prix de Diane. Tonight she will return to her box at Chantilly and we will prepare her calmly, and in a serene frame of mind, for the Prix de Diane. So see you in a month’s time at Chantilly!

“She is capable of winning a Group One race, of that I am sure.”

Never Ending Story could now step up in trip
Never Ending Story could now step up in trip (Brian Lawless/PA)

Never Ending Story was beaten five lengths in fifth and O’Brien could consider a step up in trip with her.

He said: “She ran a clean race. She’s a consistent filly.

“She produced a good finish and should be able to go longer, but, for the moment, nothing has been decided about where she goes next.”

Blue Rose Cen charged up for ParisLongchamp glory

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Blue Rose Cen will not be travelling to England this summer, whatever the outcome for the “magical filly” in the French 1000 Guineas at ParisLongchamp on Sunday.

The classy daughter of Churchill is a warm order to land the Emirates Poule d’Essai des Pouliches for trainer Christopher Head, following five wins from her last six starts.

She signed off last season with a five-length victory in the Prix Marcel Boussac and opened her Classic campaign with a cosy defeat of Lindy – who reopposes – in the Group Three Prix de la Grotte over course and distance.

Crucially, Blue Rose Cen will have the heavy ground in the mile Classic that she seems to thrive upon, following heavy rain in Paris this week.

Head said: “She is a really beautiful filly and we are very happy and very lucky to have her – she is a really magical filly.

“We are pretty happy because we are having a very rainy week. It is very good for me. She loves to get her toe in and while it may inconvenience a few, it will not inconvenience her.

“She has been professional all through her two-year-old season and she just keeps doing her thing.

“She doesn’t care what happens around her, she just likes to run and she is just brilliant at it.

“The first start of the season, she was brilliant in front and that wasn’t an easy one, but she did well. She has come out of the race very well and we are lucky enough to go into the race full of confidence. She has always been tough in her races.

“We have not got to her limit, we haven’t seen the max yet. Last time was her first race of the season so we were not hard on her. It wasn’t the point to push her until the limit. Now the French Guineas is pretty much an objective, so we are going to do everything we can to win this race.

“We have decided not to got to Royal Ascot. The owner and I have discussed a lot about it and we really want to focus with the French programme this year.

“We may look at Royal Ascot next year or the year after.”

Never Ending Story made a fine start to her Classic season at Leopardstown
Never Ending Story made a fine start to her Classic season at Leopardstown (Niall Carson/PA)

Aidan O’Brien saddles Never Ending Story, who has five and a half lengths to make up on Blue Rose Cen on their run in the Marcel Boussac but showed her well-being with a cosy win on her seasonal bow at Leopardstown last month.

“She won a Group Three last season and she shaped very well in both starts in Group One afterwards, running better than her final position suggested both times,” jockey Ryan Moore said in his Betfair blog.

“And you had to be very impressed by her return at Leopardstown, when she put the subsequent Guineas third Matilda Picotte away pretty easily.

“This is a good race, as you’d expect, with Group One winners like Blue Rose Cen in the field, but I think she is set to run a big race. She’s in good shape.”

Ryan Moore was impressed by Never Ending Story's return
Ryan Moore was impressed by Never Ending Story’s return (Damien Storan/PA)

The Karl Burke-trained Swingalong provides British interest with connections hopeful she can build on her juvenile campaign which was capped with Group Two glory in York’s Lowther Stakes.

The daughter of Showcasing stepped up to seven furlongs for the first time on her three-year-old debut and finished third to Remarquee in the Fred Darling at Newbury.

Philip Robinson, racing manager to Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum, feels she will get a mile, although testing conditions puts doubt in his mind.

“We don’t know about the heavy ground, but she is working well and looks good. She is in great shape,” said the former top jockey.

Swingalong tries a mile for the first time
Swingalong tries a mile for the first time (Mike Egerton/PA)

“Heavy ground is an unknown. She ran well behind Remarquee and I know Bruce Raymond (who shares racing manager responsibilities) thinks she could be in the first three.

“We are very hopeful. She is a very genuine, hard filly who always gives her best.

“They have had a lot of rain over there. If they have it down as heavy, it will be like the Channel. But she has got to taker her chance – this has been the target for a very long time.

“She won the Lowther in style and she’s a lovely big filly. We hope that it is only a matter of time before she lands a big one.

“The trip is not guaranteed, but we are hopeful. She does show a lot of speed, but she never showed any indication of stopping. She was still galloping at the finish and staying on well.

“We lost a shoe at Newmarket, we think about the time they went by her, so we might just have a little bit more in hand – it must have affected her in some way.”

Head excited to tackle French Guineas with Blue Rose Cen

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Christopher Head is relishing the prospect of securing Classic honours with Blue Rose Cen, who cemented her place as favourite for the French 1000 Guineas with an authoritative display in the Prix de la Grotte at ParisLongchamp on Sunday.

The daughter of Churchill made a splash for the handler during her two-year-old season, providing the the son of Freddy Head with his first Group One success when striking in style on Arc day in the Prix Marcel Boussac.

That impressive five-length success in her final start at two outlined her credentials for the May 14 Classic and she continued her love affair with the French capital’s signature racecourse on her three-year-old return, making all in the hands of Aurelien Lemaitre.

She was quickly shortened to 2-1 favourite from 11-4 by Paddy Power for the Poule d’Essai Des Pouliches and Head confirmed a return to the Paris track would be Blue Rose Cen’s next port of call before potentially stretching out to 10 furlongs for a crack at the Prix de Diane.

“She’s really a fine filly,” said the trainer. “She was very powerful as a two-year-old and now starting her three-year-old season, I’m very happy with her.

“For us in France, the Prix de la Grotte is the main race you need to win to be able to have a fair chance in the Guineas and now we need to wait for potential opponents from across the Channel, but I’m really confident about our filly.

“She has been strong-minded from the beginning and she knows everything. We are just high in the sky with her right now and we can’t wait to try her in the French Guineas. Longchamp looks like her favourite racecourse.

“Then we will see in the Prix de Diane if she stays 2,000 metres.”

Blue Rose Cen to return this weekend

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A return to ParisLongchamp for the French 1000 Guineas is the ultimate goal for the Prix Marcel Boussac heroine Blue Rose Cen ahead of her reappearance in the Prix de la Grotte on Sunday.

The daughter of Churchill made a splash for trainer Christopher Head during her two-year-old season, providing the the son of Freddy Head with his first Group One success when striking in style on Arc day.

The filly ran out an impressive five-length winner of the Boussac on her final start as a juvenile and it is perhaps no surprise Blue Rose Cen is heading back to the French capital at the start of her three-year-old campaign, where she will put her Classic aspirations to the test.

“She is very well and had a very nice winter,” said Head.

“Of course we can’t wait to see her on track again and she is doing very nicely. She is still as she was last year, she didn’t change much and she is going to be pretty much the same.

“She is going to return in the Prix de la Grotte.”

Head also hinted a step up in trip could be on the cards for Blue Cen Rose in the Prix de Diane (Chantilly, June 18) later in the season.

However, before stretching out to 10 furlongs comes under consideration, her early-season target remains a further visit to ParisLongchamp for the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches on May 14, where the handler believes she can put her proven qualities to good use on the big stage.

“Her main aim is the Pouliches, the French Guineas,” continued Head.

“To go to the the Guineas is an easy decision because, of course, we actually know her aptitude on the ground and over the distance.

“We will keep a change of distance for the Prix de Diane in mind, but the main goal is very much the Guineas for us.

“I was sure about her distance last year, about 2,000 metres. But she did so well over the mile last year, so we are just going to keep her at a mile until the Diane and then we will change the programme if we are happy.

“We will see, we still have all our cards in hand for now.”