Marhaba Ya Sanafi, Blue Rose Cen win 1st 2023 France classics

The outsider Marhaba Ya Sanafi (26-1) put up a good fight and overtook Isaac Shelby (4-1) to win by a short neck Sunday in the Group 1, $710,937 Poule d’Essai des Poulains for 3-year-old colts, the France equivalent of the 2,000 Guineas on very soft turf at ParisLongchamp.

“I’m delighted,” winning trainer Andreas Schutz said. “I was expecting a great performance from him, but maybe just a top five. I was also hoping for more rain. He had run well in the Prix de Fontainebleau (on heavy turf), and I had expected him to improve. The colt had worked well in the company of other of my horses, but I don't necessarily have much to go on in the morning.”

Third-place Breizh Sky finished two lengths up the track in third. He was a head in front of odds-on favorite American Flag (3-5), who missed the start and traveled near the rear before finishing well to come in fourth.

With jockey Mickaël Barzalona riding him to a victory for the third time, Marhaba Ya Sanafi was clocked at a winning time of 1:38.56.

A Muhaarar colt owned by Jaber Abdullah, Marhaba Ya Sanafi had finished second last month to American Flag in the Prix de Fontainebleau (G3), losing by two lengths on the same one-mile course that hosted Sunday’s race.

Runner-up Isaac Shelby, by Night of Thunder, was a last-out winner of the Greenham Stakes (G3) over seven furlongs at Newbury.

“We were a bit frustrated by the lack of pace, especially in the first part of the race,” Isaac Shelby’s trainer Brian Meehan said. “It wasn’t fast enough for him, but he ran very well.”

Schutz said Marhaba Ya Sanafi was likely to race next in the Prix du Jockey Club (G1), the France derby June 4 at Chantilly. Meehan pointed Isaac Shelby to next month’s St. James’s Palace (G1) at Royal Ascot.

Blue Rose Cen wins 4th in a row

Coming off her win on heavy going last month in the Prix de la Grotte (G3), odds-on favorite Blue Rose Cen (3-5) won with ease Sunday at ParisLongchamp, finishing 1 3/4 lengths ahead of runner-up Lindy (8-1) in the one-mile, $601,562 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches for 3-year-old fillies, France’s version of the 1,000 Guineas.

After leading early, Sauterne (15-1) held onto third place another 1 1/4 lengths back. Kelina (20-1) was just behind finishing fourth.

Trained by Christopher Head and ridden by Aurélien Lemaitre, Blue Rose Cen was denied the early lead when Sauterne took charge while flanked by Swingalong (23-1), who could not stay the mile on very soft turf.

Blue Rose Cen waited in their wake by the rail and thus did not have to look for an escape route. The wider part of the course that opens in the deep stretch allowed her to challenge a brave Sauterne without bothering to change lanes. Blue Rose Cen’s winning time was 1:38.24, 0.32 seconds faster than the colts ran in the previous race.

Lindy, on the other hand, had to go around the pack since she was drawn into post 7 and traveled outside while covered by a disappointing Quickstep (12-1).

A Yeguada Centurion homebred by Churchill, Blue Rose Cen won for the fourth time in a row and added her second Group 1 score, the first coming in October over the same course, distance and conditions in the Marcel Boussac.

“I don’t think that the magnitude of this success has sunk in yet,” Head said. “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.”

Head won the race for the first time since taking over the stable from his retired father Freddy Head, an eight-time winner of the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches. Head’s aunt Criquette Head-Maarek trained seven victors in this race.

The next stop for Blue Rose Cen is likely to be the France oaks on June 18 at Chantilly.

“The goal now is to go for the Prix de Diane (G1),” Head said. “Her pedigree suggests she will be able to go longer. We could have contemplated going for the Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot, but it’s better to stick with the French program.”