Prix De Diane Set For War Of The Roses

Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Jun, 2023 ) :Blue Rose Cen can join a pantheon of racing legends if she prevails in the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) at Chantilly on Sunday with her main obstacle the unbeaten Jannah Rose.

Blue Rose Cen if successful would join Allez France (1973), Zarkava (2008) and Divine Proportions (2005) in winning the Prix Marcel Boussac, the Prix de Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French 1000 Guineas) and the Diane.

Her trainer Christophe Head hails from one of the most famous French racing families -- his aunt Criquette Head-Maarek's last Diane winner Treve in 2013 went on to win Europe's most prestigious race the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe twice.

Both Allez France (1974) and Zarkava (2008) also won the Arc.

Head, whose father Freddy never won it as a trainer but was the victorious jockey on four occasions, has seen the ups and downs of racing from an early age so he is not looking that far ahead.

"She has recovered well after her win in the Pouliches.

I think she is in prime form," said the 36-year-old handler, who has been a trainer in his own right since 2018.

"I'm crossing my fingers that everything goes well in terms of the long trip (2100 meters compared to 1600 of the Pouliches)." Blue Rose Cen -- whose jockey Aurelien Lemaitre tasted classic success like Head for the first time in the Pouliches -- is one of two runners for the stable.

Head also saddles Wise Girl for Blue Rose Cen's Spain-based owners Yeguada Cenurion -- whose patriarch Leopoldo Fernandez Pujals's life reads like a Boys Own story.

The 75-year-old was born in Cuba to Spanish parents who left for Miami after Fidel Castro came to power -- he went on to fight for his adopted country in the Vietnam War being decorated for bravery and attaining the rank of captain.

He moved to Spain and went on to make his fortune first in pizzas -- enabling him to create the Centurion stud farm -- and then ventured into telecommunications before returning to the pizza business.