Freville revives memories of Blue Rose Cen as Christopher Head eyes Marcel Boussac challenge

Twelve months ago Blue Rose Cen burst on to the scene with a dominant performance in the Prix d'Aumale and, while the margin of her stablemate Freville's victory was nothing like as decisive, Christopher Head said the two fillies had come a similar route to this point. 

After Freville had been brought wide and late by Aurelien Lemaitre to get the better of the Joseph O'Brien-trained Kalispera and Alshinfarah for Kevin Philippart de Foy, Head said: "She's a filly we've liked from the start although, going into this race, we were probably riding her to get placed. But Aurelien gave her a great ride and she produced a fantastic turn of foot in the straight.

"She's grown and changed a lot through the year and I'm pleasantly surprised to see her do that today. She's very strong mentally and the quick ground didn't bother her." 

Freville's previous start was a fourth-placed effort in the Listed Criterium de Fonds Europeen de l'Elevage, a race Blue Rose Cen finished second in before running up a sequence of three Group 1 victories, starting with the Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc day.

"She's trodden a similar path as Blue Rose Cen did last year so I suppose she reminds me of her a bit," said Head. "I'd love to say she could be another like Blue Rose Cen but we'll have to see. The Boussac is a possibility but we'll talk to the owner."

Zabiari's connections, the Aga Khan and Jean-Claude Rouget, had to wait more than ten minutes before the stewards confirmed the placings remained unaltered in the Group 3 Prix des Chenes.

Zabiari and Cristian Demuro return after winning the Prix des Chenes

The son of Wootton Bassett appeared to momentarily lean in on runner up Grey Man in an incident close to home and Cristian Demuro was banned for three days, with the officials considering he had not done everything possible to keep his mount straight.

"He's clearly got talent and is a good horse but you've seen in his last two runs that Zabiari is still immature," said Nemone Routh of the Aga Khan Studs. "I think he has scope to improve plenty and, although he wasn't as bad as last time, he once again drifted once he took it up."

Zabiari holds an entry in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, as does the same owner and trainer combination's highly regarded Elbaz, who runs in the opener at Chantilly on Saturday.

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