Promising young Galileo son Churchill (IRE) is currently at Coolmore Australia for his fifth season and featured overnight with a new Group I in France when Blue Rose Cen took out the Group I Prix Marcel Boussac Criterium des Pouliches (1600m) at Longchamp.
A talented two year-old filly prepared by Christopher Head, Blue Rose Cen came into the race off a last start Group win and scored a commanding five length win over Saxon Warrion filly Gan Teorainn taking her overall record to four wins and a second to six starts.
“I knew Blue Rose Cen would be okay on the testing ground because it was soft last time she ran and I think she can go further than a mile - a mile-two would be easy for her, said Christoper Head, who was celebrating his first Group I win as a trainer.
“It's surprising how well she won because it was a good race. She was jumping from a Group 3 to a Group 1 against all the Europeans, it wasn't like she was just running against French horses.”
A homebred for Yeguada Centurion SLU, Blue Rose Cen is the first foal from dual Group III winner Queen Blossom and becomes the second Group I winner for Churchill joining his star three year-old colt Vadeni, who contested the Group I Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (2400m).
The Aga Khan homebred colt ran the race of his life to finish second beaten half a length by glamour mare Alpinista with last year’s winner Torquator Tasso in third place.
Churchill stands at a fee of $22,000 this spring and has two very promising fillies running for him here in stakes-placed Jenny Jerome and Madame Odette, a dominant winner of the $100,000 Toowoomba Guineas.
