QATAR PRIX MARCEL BOUSSAC - Green Empress lands her first Group 1

QATAR PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE WEEKEND

QATAR PRIX MARCEL BOUSSAC - CRITERIUM DES POULICHES

Green Empress lands her first Group 1

The first Group 1 of Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe day went to an Irish-trained runner, with Green Empress winning the Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac - Critérium des Pouliches. Green Empress was ridden by Christophe Soumillon.

Finishing strongly on the far outside, Green Empress fought out a long battle with Data, trained in Chantilly by Christopher Head. With one final surge, she eventually managed to gain the upper hand and win by a head. Queen of The Day, also trained in Chantilly, but by Francis-Henri Graffard, completed the podium a length and a quarter further back. The favourite for the race, Green Empress was making only the fourth start of her career. The filly secured the first Group 1 victory of her career, having finished second in the Moyglare Stud Stakes (Group 1) on 13 September at the Curragh (IRE) on her previous start.

Green Empress is trained by Joseph O’Brien, son of leading Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien. The latter won the race last year with Diamond Necklace.

The Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac (Group 1) automatically earns the winner a place in the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (Group 1, $1 million in prize money).

Official result

QATAR PRIX MARCEL BOUSSAC - CRITÉRIUM DES POULICHES

1st GREEN EMPRESS (C. Soumillon)

2nd DATA (P.-C. Boudot)

3rd QUEEN OF THE DAY (M. Barzalona)

Time: 1’37’’02. Margins: HEAD – 1 1/4 LENGTHS – NECK

Connections’ reactions

Joseph O’Brien, trainer of Green Empress (1st), Ireland

“It’s a great day and her jockey gave her a really good ride. It’s very special for us to have a Group 1 winner today, obviously for Prince Faisal and his family, as well as for the Thoroughbred Racing Corporation. Green Empress has continued to improve. She has only been beaten by something of a goddess this year, and it’s nice to see her win her Group 1 today. She is a big filly. With a good preparation and a bit of luck, she gives the impression that she could be just as good, if not better, next year. She also has a very good pedigree, notably featuring Sea The Stars. We probably see her as a 1,600-metre filly who could, at some stage, step up to 2,000 metres. We’ll see how she comes out of today’s race, then we’ll discuss things with Prince Faisal and his team to decide whether she goes to America or whether we wait until next year.”

Jane Mangan, racing manager of The Thoroughbred Racing Corporation Ltd

“This is Thoroughbred Racing Corporation’s first Group 1 since its relaunch, so it is quite special. When this filly won the Debutante at the Curragh, it was exactly thirty years after the late Prince Ahmed Salman won the Debutante in the United States, his first Group 1. The whole family is absolutely delighted, and enormous credit really has to go to Joseph. He has been very patient with her. He had planned an autumn campaign and we kept running into Sun Goddess. Thankfully, today we got our chance! The Breeders’ Cup is definitely on the agenda if she comes out of this race well. Joseph was very patient with her in the middle of the summer, with this type of campaign in mind, and we would very much like to go to Kentucky if the filly is able to.”

Pierre-Yves Bureau, racing manager for Wertheimer et Frère, breeders and owners of Data (3rd)

“We believed right until the end! We are really delighted to see Data show so much fight. Last time, she had a bad trip, but we hadn’t really realised just how much it had cost us the win; with a performance like this, we can now see it. Christopher Head had been preparing the filly for this race for a long time, so even though she had finished third in the Prix d’Aumale, we decided to take our chance. Today, we were beaten by the best filly. But she is a real filly for the future. We’ll discuss things again once we’ve had time to reflect, but I think she has had a very good campaign this year at two, so we can give her a break now and look forward to a good year next season.”

Francis-Henri Graffard, trainer of Queen of The Day (3rd), Chantilly (Oise)

“Queen of The Day ran very well on her return and produced a really good performance. She had a good trip and everything went perfectly. Being placed in the Marcel Boussac is also very valuable for her pedigree. She has developed a lot physically over the past two months and I think she will change again over the winter. Everything she has done this year simply shows that she has quality. She is a good filly and I think we are going to have plenty to look forward to with her next year.”