Can Blue Rose Cen bounce back and confound the doubters at the end of a long season?

What to make of Blue Rose Cen? She looked like an outstanding filly after winning the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches at this course and following up even more impressively in the Prix de Diane at Chantilly, but the wheels have fallen off spectacularly on her two subsequent starts.

There were possible excuses for those defeats but she has had a long season and trainer Christopher Head must be wondering whether she can go again. The jury is out on her now.

Aidan O’Brien has the best recent record of any trainer with a runner. He saddled Rhododendron and Hydrangea to finish first and second in 2017 and also had Magic Wand and Fleeting finish runner-up in 2018 and 2019. He relies on Jackie Oh.

She was soundly beaten when three lengths behind the reopposing Lumiere Rock in the Blandford Stakes at the Curragh last time but didn't get a clear run and came from further back than the winner. Jackie Oh gave the impression she is better than she showed.

She is a late-May foal having just her seventh start and her pedigree is outstanding, so it’s not difficult to find reasons why she could reverse those places.

Carlos Laffon-Parias was responsible for Villa Marina, who beat the O’Brien-trained Fleeting four years ago, and he saddles Jannah Rose. She has form that ties in with Jackie Oh as she beat Lumiere Rock in a Group 2 at Deauville last time.

Jannah Rose is a Group 1 winner over course and distance and clearly likes it here. Al Husn is a Group 1 scorer having her first start at this track after coming unstuck in the Yorkshire Oaks. That was over further, though, and Al Husn might be better at this trip.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

Head: 'very tough' Cen has fair chance

You know it is a good day’s racing when there is a dual Classic winner in action and she runs on the undercard rather than in the main event.

In fact, the high-class Blue Rose Cen once looked a potentially serious contender for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. 

Blue Rose Cen: a dual Classic winner this seasonCredit: Edward Whitaker

She stood at single-figure odds after trotting up by four lengths in the Prix de Diane (French Oaks), adding to earlier success in the Poule d’Essai Des Pouliches (French 1,000 Guineas).

And defeat in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood did little to dent her reputation as she was stopped in her run, under a jockey having his first ride on that tricky track, yet was still beaten little more than a length into fourth.

But she looked a palpable non-stayer when stepped up to the Arc trip of 1m4f in the Prix Vermeille here and looks sure to be well suited by reverting to 1m2f, at a meeting where she gave Christopher Head his first Group 1 success in the Prix Marcel Boussac 12 months ago.

The trainer, whose father Freddy rode four Arc winners, said: "I think the distance found her out in the Vermeille. She has done so well between a mile and 2,000 metres [1m2½f] and now we know [she doesn't stay 1m4f] – it will be important when it comes to making her programme with the owner for next season. I think she has a fair chance in the Opera. She remains well and she's very tough."

What they say

Francis Graffard, trainer of Darkaniya
She's very well. She won her Group 2 in Germany and if the ground had gone, I wouldn’t have aimed at this weekend. But she loves good ground and if she could be Group 1-placed, that would be marvellous.

Hughie Morrison, trainer of Stay Alert
If she runs to the level of her form at the Curragh in July, she’ll be in the money. She deserves another crack at a Group 1. I see she’s the outsider of the field – that doesn’t make much sense to me.

Roger Varian, trainer of Al Husn
She's in great form at home and I expect her to bounce back from her below par run in the Yorkshire Oaks last time. 

Rossa Ryan, rider of State Occasion
She's done nothing wrong. It's a massive step up but if she produces the form of her Listed win at Salisbury, she should be there with an each-way chance.

Tom Clover, trainer of Rogue Millennium
She's an amazing filly who ran a lovely race behind Tahiyra in the Matron. She's in good form and I hope she'll run with credit again.

Kieran Lalor, racing manager of Al Shira'aa Farm, owners of Jannah Rose
We still think there's more to her than she showed in the Prix Alec Head and Lumiere Rock has franked the form. If anything, she has come back and proved her early-season form was real, and we just drew a line through the Prix de Diane. It wasn't her day and she showed a bit of a viral issue in her bloods afterwards.

Joseph O'Brien, trainer of Lumiere Rock
She's in good shape at home, but it looks a fantastic race. We're looking forward to seeing how she gets on in this sort of company. We feel she is a Group 1 filly, so hopefully she will prove it and be competitive.

Henk Grewe, trainer of Muskoka
This is a very tough race with a lot of good fillies but she worked well on Monday and I think she has improved a bit since the [German] Oaks, when she was a bit keen. Now she has learned to relax a bit more. She's in the Arc sale on Saturday, so we'll see if she is sold and whether she runs.

Aidan O’Brien, trainer of Jackie Oh
Ryan Moore felt he just got too far back at the Curragh and they went slow. She came home very well. She’s in good form and her work has been very good recently. Her work and her runs are getting better and better, she’s maturing all the time.
Reporting by David Carr

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