Christopher Head sights set on Vermeille date for Blue Rose Cen
By Molly Hunter
12:03 · THU August 10, 2023
Blue Rose Cen will head to the Prix Vermeille in a bid for further Group One success after her Nassau Stakes outing ultimately ended in disappointment.
The Churchill filly has been the star of Christopher Head’s stable this season, winning three of her four runs and backing up a successful juvenile campaign in which she was a Group One winner in the Prix Marcel Boussac.
Her three-year-old season started in the Prix de la Grotte, a Group Three she won comfortably before landing the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, over the same ParisLongchamp mile the following month.
A further start at Group One level ended in a four-length victory in the Prix de Diane, a performance that paved the way to Goodwood’s flagship summer meeting.
She started as the 10/11 favourite under Aurelien Lemaitre, but the race did not go as planned when the partnership found themselves boxed in two furlongs from home and could not throw down a challenge until it was too late.
Blue Rose Cen had to settle for fourth behind Al Husn, Above The Curve and Nashwa, but was only beaten a length and a quarter in a tight finish.
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The Prix Vermeille, over a mile and a half on Arc trials day back at ParisLongchamp, is next on the agenda as she steps up in trip again.
“She is very well, she had a good journey back from France and everything is all right,” Head said.
“Everything has gone smoothly with her since Goodwood and she worked well (on Wednesday morning).
“We’re still hoping to go through with the schedule we had in mind for her and the Vermeille is the plan – everything is good.”
Head has a another top-quality filly in the two-year-old Ramatuelle, a chestnut daughter of Justify who is partly owned by the NBA hall of famer Tony Parker.
Ramatuelle has won three of her four starts so far, with the last two successes coming at Group level as she landed the Prix du Bois by five lengths and the Prix Robert Papin by four.
The Prix Morny, a six-furlong Group One run at Deauville, is now the target.
“She’s doing fine, she’s really good,” Head said.
“She’s just full of speed and I have entered her in the Morny, that is going to be the plan for her.
“I’m very happy with her. She runs over that distance and at that pace really fluently, we are delighted to see her win her races and we just can’t wait to see her run again.”
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